Bloody Kisses of a Forbidden Love
by ForbiddenDreams13
Summary: A chance encounter between a hunter and an aristocrat vampire starts a chain of events that send two worlds walking down a trail of blood, corruption and death. Five unlikely heroes are thrown into a calamity that could drastically alter their world.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey readers! Welcome to my first crossover fanfic: Bloody Kisses of a Forbidden Love! Oh, and Shimi-chan, sorry for beating around the bush for this one…heh heh heh. Anywho, let's start the story!**

_Vampires and humans. The history of each species is carved by a long bloody war that raged through the decades, taking much, and killing many. In that time many people, both human and vampire were killed, but while old legends died, new ones were born. One however, is quite unique, smelling of blood, and woven with the souls of those killed, one hunter made a deep mark into history with the blade of his blood stained sword. He was known as Hitokiri Battosai, all who faced him died, those who managed to flee the carnage with what little life they had left said that they had come face to face with death made flesh. Strangely, near the end of the great war, the Battosai mysteriously vanished. Some say that, by some miracle or curse that a vampire had been able to kill him, while others claimed he killed someone he didn't want to, people also gossiped that he had grown tired of killing. Whatever the reason, as the screams of the dying faded, and the bodies became dust, Battosai vanished, and was never to be heard from again…._

Crack! The Level E screeched as its shoulder was dislocated, but still it came on, desperate for the blood that would give it sustenance, but only for a short while. Saliva dripped from its fangs, as it snarled and prepared for another attack on its assailant. The hunter stepped aside, and smiled when the former human went sprawling to the ground, main arm permanently damaged.

"You think you still have the chance to fight? With a useless arm, and a scrap of a mind?"

The vampire coughed, shaking and panting as it stood. Only one word came out of its cracked lips;

"Blood…"

It leapt again. That was the last move it ever made. No thought came through the hollow remains of its mind as the hunter's sword came down on the Level E's skull, crushing it like a fly. The corpse collapsed at his feet, turning into a fine silver dust that the wind would carry on to some unknown spot, where it would then sink into the earth, and traces of the vampire would forever become nonexistent. The hunter sheathed his sword, and wiped a hand across his forehead.

"What a fighter."

He said aloud to the empty alley. Sighing, he walked out of the alley, and stepped out into the bright sunlight. He savored its warm kiss on his skin. This was his advantage. He could traverse through both day and night, could walk into the sunlight and not be burned by the precious light of day.

"Himura!"

Kenshin Himura, turned at the sound of his name to see Yagari waving him over, across the street. Curious, he dropped his battle only death glare, put on his wandering hunter expression, and went over to see what the older hunter had to say.

"I don't get it. Been with you for a good eleven years now, and I still don't get your usage of the reversed blade sword. For me if it bleeds 'em a bit, maybe it'll teach 'em somethin.' "

Kenshin smiled.

"My vow is serious, Touga. If I broke I would not only be betraying Tomoe, I'd be betraying myself as well."

Yagari nodded, lighting up a cigarette, oblivious to Kenshin's distasteful glance at the acrid smoke that he exhaled.

"Yeah, but still…if those monsters made me kill my woman, I'd want to drown them in their own blood."

"And that my friend, is where we differ."

*** * * * ***

Glorious bands of saffron glimmered like ribbons in the pale azure sky. Cross Academy was a buzz of activity as students from the Day Class went about their normal schedules, going from class to class, and chatting with friends. In the Moon Dorms, it was the opposite. Vampires slept, dreaming peaceful dreams, ignoring that bright outside world, save for one. Kaname Kuran sat hunched over a desk, writing and going over Senate reports. Muttering to himself, and stifling a yawn, he closed his eyes, and tried to ban some of the gray fog from covering his consciousness. Sadly, closing his eyes, made him want to sleep even more. He shook himself a little, and turned to look at the latest report that documented an escaped Level E that had eluded capture. He sighed. Who would he send out to hunt? Takuma was a possibility, then there was Shiki and Rima…hmm, perhaps he could even send Aido, if he didn't get into trouble.

Kaname shook his head. No. He wanted to use someone new. The idea came to him in an instant: Kaoru Kamiya. The girl had an extraordinary skill with weapons any kind, and the telekinetic ability to sense the aura of a Level E. She would be a brilliant choice.

Finishing off his last report, the vampire prince, stood up, stretched, and crawled into bed, reminding himself that tomorrow would be a night off for the Night Class, before drifting off into an exhausted sleep.

*** * * * ***

"Kaaaoooorrruuuu-chaaaaaaaaaannnnn!"

Kaoru winced and quickened her pace, trying to get to her dorm as quick as possible without the intrusion of her stalker. Well, he wasn't necessarily a stalker, but he was as annoying as one. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing if she would have enough time to get to her room before hell had his arms around her. Crap! He was almost right behind her. Inwardly, Kaoru sighed, looked like there would be no peace for her, unconsciously, her hand strayed to her hip. Dammit! Her wooden sword, the one she used for smacking him was in her dorm! Groaning a bit, Kaoru turned around, praying that he wouldn't be up to his usual tricks with her.

"H-Hello…Aido…"

The aristocrat said half-heartedly. God why was he always everywhere she was? Didn't he have something better to do? Like annoy his cousin, rile his fans or brown nose Kaname-sama. Wait, on second thought, the third one might get him killed. Aido smiled.

"Hey Kaoru-chan! Anything interesting going on?"

"Not…Not really…you?"

"Same here. Oh!"

He casually put his arm around Kaoru's shoulders, it took all of her will not to shudder, or shove him off. With that stupid boyish grin on his face, he put his face close to Kaoru's.

"The entire Night Class has the night off tonight. Maybe we could do something. Just you and me. How 'bout it? A night on the town sound like fun?"

"Isn't leaving school grounds forbidden?"

Great, she shouldn't have asked that, now he wore that cheesy bad boy expression.

"Who cares. Stick with me kid, and we can have lots of fun and not get caught."

Great. If she said no then he'd never leave her alone, if she said yes, then he'd tell everybody, ultimately mortifying her. Each side of the thin line carried possibilities she didn't want to face.

"Uh…well…Aido I was actually thinking about…um you know…staying here and…."

She could see thoughts forming behind his eyes. _Keep talking! _Her mind urged her. _Keep talking! He just might lose interest and look for someone else to annoy! _Wishful thinking. Aido was like a dog with its favorite bone, once he sank his teeth in, he almost never let go.

"Kamiya-san."

Seiren. Hallelujah divine intervention! Aido let go of Kaoru as both turned to see the purple haired subordinate.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Kaname-sama would like to see you."

That could mean one of two things. 1: He was displeased about something….which was a bit confusing or 2: He had an assignment for her.

"Alright. Thank you Seiren. I'll meet with him immediately."

Seiren nodded and disappeared into thin air. _Geez. _Kaoru thought. _It's called 'walking away' has she not heard of it? _In their freshman year, both Seiren and Kaoru had shared a dorm, both girls got along fine and quickly became friends. After all, each shared an interest in the art of combat. Shrugging off the memories, Kaoru began walking down the hall to the pureblood's room. There was just one problem, and it was following her.

"Um…if it's a Level E maybe we can go hunting together."

"That's only if Kaname-sama thinks I need protection which is unlikely."

"I know a few spots-"

"Aido…I'm perfectly capable of handling an escaped Level E by myself. Okay? I'll let you know if I need help."

Aido backed off, but the look on his face reminded Kaoru of a child that was told he could have ice cream later if he was a good boy.

"Oh! Alright then! Bye Kaoru-chan!"

Kaoru tossed Aido a wave over her shoulder, and resumed her walk. What an annoyance. Along with Seiren, Aido had been one of Kaoru's first friends upon coming to Cross Academy. Although she would never admit it, even under the most dire of circumstances, she had harbored a small crush on him at first, but seeing how much attention he paid to his fans instead of her, she had soon left the boy high and dry. What made him change his tune and go from super inflated ego (which he still had) to becoming her shadow, the black haired aristocrat couldn't even begin to fathom.

She stopped outside Kaname's door, listening intently for anything on the other side of the threshold. Kaname-sama's room had an atmosphere all its own, it seemed to announce to her that a pureblood lived here. Of course the man was important, he left a mark wherever he went. Cautiously, she turned the door knob and stepped into the dorm president's room.

Kaname was looking out the bay window at the dying glory of the setting sun, he turned around and gave Kaoru one of his carefully constructed smiles.

"Hello Kaoru."

Kaoru bowed.

"Hello Kaname-sama. Seiren said that you had asked to see me. May I ask what for?"

Kaname motioned Kaoru into the room, the aristocrat shut the door and came to stand in the center of the room.

"There will be a Level E in town today. I am hereby giving you an order to hunt it down and kill it. It doesn't matter what method you use, just make sure it is disposed of."

Kaoru nodded. Finally, some action! Mentally, she was bouncing off the walls from sheer excitement, but her voice was as calm as a still pond.

"How quickly do you want it taken care of?"

"You could look for it right now, if it's no trouble at all."

Oh definitely no trouble! She loved the hunt, the pure animalistic nature of it. Kaoru bowed once more, thanking the pureblood, then retreated to her dorm room, went to her closet, and began going through her store of weapons. Hm…sword? No, too cliché. Double edged battle axe? Cool, but a bit too bulky and noticeable. Bow and arrows? No close combat was her style. Daggers, shurikens, metal whip? No. no and no. Finally when she thought that she was never going to find the right weapon, her eyes settled on the chain link scythe that sat curled up on he floor like a glittering metal cobra. Sleek and dangerous.

Her lips curled back over her fangs in a lupine smile. This would be fun!

*** * * * ***

A chilly autumn wind snaked around his ankles, driving the clouds across the moon, causing lunatic shadows to play on the sleeping town below. Kenshin wrapped his black coat around himself, relishing in the cool night air that always seemed to accompany him on every night hunt he did. Reports of an escaped Level E vampire had spread through the Hunter's Council like wildfire, each hunter trying to pounce on the opportunity like a starved cat on a fat mouse. Kenshin smiled. Young hunters didn't understand the war, nor did they understand that they weren't just dealing with your average run-of-the-mill vampire when out hunting; they were dealing with a vampire at its most basic form: a savage animal that killed in order to feed. A deadly parasite in a world of so many compatible hosts. Memories of those long, weary years came back to him. How on more than one occasion, the killing had turned into a struggle where every heartbeat meant the difference between life and death.

Kenshin took a long inhale of the air around him, it tasted like honey suckle and wine. Dimly, he wondered if any of the aristocrat and pureblood vampires regretted turning humans into vampires. Once the mind was worn away from the insatiable thirst for blood, there was really nothing left. Once bitten, you were no longer human, you had become a shell of who you were, now a monster damned to feed off the precious, and fragile lives of others. Vampires considered themselves immortal, they who lived for long periods if time, whilst humans, with lives only a short span of time. Merely motes in an eye; one blink and they were gone, was how some vampires viewed it. But no matter how strong you were, or how long your life expectancy could be, there were always ways to die. He had seen that enough times to know.

Life was like rice paper, whilst death was like stone. It takes years for a dead body to fully decay, like in that same way it takes stone hundreds of years to erode into dust. It takes only mere seconds to tear a sheet of rice paper clean in half. So no matter who thought what about being strong and living to near forever, they were wrong. Death was not something that only struck certain people, nor was it a shadow lurking behind a corner, but rather something each and every person carried with them. Death was constant.

The wind moaned, as if sensing his thoughts and agonizing over them. A rustling noise brought Kenshin's attention to a less traveled street. Shrugging his shoulders, the hunter walked onto the path less traveled. _What the hell. I've lived a good life, I've no fear of death. _A breeze hissed behind him…or was it a breeze? His hand went to the hilt of his sword, drawing it out, and hitting a former human broadside, sending it crashing into a stack of crates. He couldn't quite make out any distinctive features, but he could tell that any trace of the human it had once been had vanished. It stepped out into the moonlight. Standing opposite him was a woman, she appeared to be in her mid twenties, with sandy blond hair, and a decent figure. Kenshin found himself pitying this girl for who she was, and could have become.

She walked forward, her steps were broken and unsteady so desperate was her need to feed that her body could not even process the simple rhythm of walking correctly. Kenshin brought the blade up to his lips and kissed the dull edge. The Level E tensed, preparing to jump at him and drain him of his life blood.

"I'm sorry. You didn't ask for this."

She leapt for him, claws and fangs bared.

"And you didn't want this either."

He brought the blade across in a savage arc, but just before it came into contact with her ribcage, something metal came flying out of the dark, and cleanly sliced the Level E in half. There was no blood, not even a scream, only dust. Kenshin wasn't sure which unnerved him more. He stared down at the silver dust, thoughts swirled around his head with the speed of hurricane winds, but all he could manage was a sigh. He had been right. She hadn't deserved what Fate had given her. Putting his hands together, he sent a small prayer up to whatever gods were listening that she could at least find some rest.

"Do you always pray for the ones you kill?"

Out of the shadows stepped a girl, no a vampire, clad in a teal thigh length skirt and a black t-shirt. In her hands, she held the weapon that had done the Level E in: a chain link scythe. Her black hair was held back by a teal hair ribbon, her blue eyes glittered as she faced the hunter. There was something about her, Kenshin couldn't quite put his finger on what, but it was drawing him in, closer to the very thing he had sworn himself against. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, how do you like it so far? I'm very nervous seeing as this is my first crossover fic, but hopefully with good reviews and support from a few friends I can pull this off!**

"Who are you?"

She looked at him, the vampire that had robbed him of his kill... Something about her eyes seemed different. Then it hit him: They were clear as a mountain stream. Kenshin could see straight through to her soul. She hid nothing from him in that look. He could see a genuine curiosity mixed with an electric sort of excitement. She smiled at him, and her fangs glistened in the cold silver light of the moon, but it wasn't a menacing smile. It was pure, unlike any other. Something stirred in his chest, but it fluttered back down before Kenshin could grasp what it was.

"Hey, I asked you a question first."

So much for being different. He looked down at the silver dust that lay between them, there was nothing in those remains which would have identified the person the Level E had been before. Of course, the moment she had been bitten, there was no human, just a girl-shell. Would she be remembered? By anyone?

"In answer to your question, no, not normally. But her…that woman, before this, she had a life, a good life. Family, friends, maybe even a lover, but no longer. Now all that remains of her is dust."

Kenshin knelt down, and scooped some up in his hands. It didn't feel anything like dust at all. Instead of the powdery soft texture he had been expecting, what met his hands was a smooth silky texture that was solid, yet liquid at the same time. Kenshin blew it gently into the air. The silver particles transformed into tiny crystals, glittering in different colors with every second passed. Like individual stars they glowed, until at last they settled back onto the earth and became a dull gray once more.

"Insignificant dust."

The vampire watched all of this, her blue eyes sparkling with something akin to admiration. She gathered her weapon, and attached it to her hip, the chain links clinking together like the teeth of a steel animal.

"All right, you answered my question, I guess I'll answer yours. My name's Kaoru, Kaoru Kamiya."

Kamiya! Her lineage consisted of some of the best known weapons masters of all time. It looked to Kenshin like she was going to follow in her ancestor's footsteps. He couldn't help but wonder if she fully knew the dangerous extent of her powers. Rakaiya Takamuri sure did. A retired hunter, he remembered fighting a Kamiya at the peak of his youth. Rakaiya was famously strong, yet he had managed to lose and eye, and gain some pretty nasty scars from that match. Although Rakaiya won, he believed that neither truly came back from that battle. And in a sense, Kenshin believed him. Anyone who came back from the War was never the same.

Kaoru stepped forward, and Kenshin had to steel himself against wincing when her feet crunched the dust into the ground. Obviously vampires had no respect for a deceased former human. Their hierarchy was just sickening.

They were now standing directly in front of one another. Up close she really did seem different from a typical aristocrat vampire. Her smile touched her eyes, turning them into bright sapphire crystals, radiating light and warmth. One could lose themselves in that light, go mad and never return.

"Okay, I've told you who I am, but who are you?"

At first he was surprised, but it passed. Of course she didn't know who he was. Even if she was a vampire, she was still a child, and so it was understandable that she didn't recognize him.

"Kenshin. Kenshin Himura."

She held out her hand. For a moment, he simply stared, quite taken aback by the polite gesture. Kaoru giggled.

"It's okay , I don't bite. I promise. I already drank this evening."

He took her hand. It was soft and smooth, like a girl's skin, but it was also as white as a porcelain doll. Kenshin could see the blue artery course down her wrist where it disappeared into the deeper recesses of her skin on her upper arm. On the outside she looked like a very pretty girl. But on the inside…..

"Well, I need to get going, the Night Class has tonight off, but I'm afraid Kaname-sama's gonna want me back P.D.Q for a report on the Level E."

She gave his hand a firm shake, dropped it, waved and leapt high into the air.

"I hope we can meet again Mr. Himura! I find you a pretty interesting person!"

And in the blink of an eye, she was gone. Kenshin sighed, and sheathed his sword. All around him the night whispered in its dark and arcane language, telling strange stories of those who had walked into its venom laced jaws and were never seen again. He wrapped the black trench coat tighter around himself. It was getting colder. Dimly, Kenshin wondered if the Kamiya girl's kind could feel the cold.

"Miss Kaoru Kamiya."

Kenshin smiled.

"Indeed how different you are."

* * * * *

"So? How did it go?"

Kaname wasn't looking at her, which in itself wasn't unusual. Unless it was something really interesting she figured it wasn't worth the leader's time to mull over silly things like Level E hunts. Kaoru often found herself wondering if Kaname got tired of being the head. Of course having to fill out reports for those doddering old men would drive anyone insane. It was dark inside the pureblood's room, but thanks to her enhanced vision, she could make out every detail perfectly. A crescent moon gleamed like a fang, sleek and sharp. The thin black cloud cover managed to obscure and pointlessly scatter some of the starlight that tried to aid the moon in lighting up the night. Both aristocrat and pureblood were looking intently at the moon, although Kaoru knew she should be looking at Kaname while she addressed him, the moon was just to beautiful. It had a reddish tint to it.

_Red. Just like his hair. Such a bright vibrant red. _

"Kaoru?"

"Oh! I apologize. The hunt went well. It was taken quickly, without even a scream."

Kaname put his fingers on the cool glass. Kaoru searched his face, intent on finding even a small hint at what was going through the pureblood's mind.

"Good. You're free to go now Kaoru."

Kaoru nodded, and began making her way towards the door. However, once she put her hand on the knob, she stopped.

"Kaname-sama?"

"Yes?"

"…Um…have you ever heard of the name Kenshin Himura, by any chance?"

Kaname didn't turn from the window, but he did stand up. For a moment she thought he was going to walk over to her, but he simply stayed put.

"Perhaps. What does the person look like. He who possess the name Kenshin Himura?"

"Bright red hair with a cross shaped scar on his left cheek"

The pureblood turned fully away from the window. Kaoru could see his eyes clearly. Try as she might, she couldn't stop the black worm of fear from writhing in her heart.

"You saw…him?"

Her mouth was dry. Her lips were numb. All she could do was nod weakly.

"Interesting…"

He turned back to the window, and Kaoru was glad she couldn't see his face anymore. She turned the doorknob, (maybe a little to rough) and exited the room. When she got a quarter of the way down the hall, she leaned against the wall and put a hand to her chest. She didn't know why she did it, Kaoru could clearly her heart, pounding like a runaway freight train. Although she didn't like to admit it, there were times when Kaname down right terrified her.

* * * * *

Kenshin coughed. Next to him, Yagari glanced through the smoke trailing off the end of his cigarette at him.

"Frog in your throat?"

Once he had his breathing back under control, Kenshin gave his friend a side long look. Or rather, a glance, before turning away. The smell of the smoke was still thick and heavy in his nostrils.

"I'd really appreciate it if you put that thing out Touga."

The reply to the statement was a snide smile followed by:

"The smoke bothering you?"

_Tit for tat. _

"No, it's the high heels and the lipstick. _That's _what's bothering me."

"You jerk!"

Kenshin smiled, as he ducked a punch.

"Hey, you hit first, so don't blame me!"

Kenshin swung left, and missed, Yagari thwacked his right shoulder, both wore smiles plastered on their faces.

"That kinda hurt."

He said, firing back a hard right. Yagari side-stepped and thundered out his left leg.

"Sorry, wasn't supposed to."

"Uh…did I miss something here?"

Yagari had Kenshin in a headlock, so it was difficult for the hunter to make out the person, but the voice was unmistakable.

"Hey Sano!"

Kenshin's voice was muffled by Yagari's sleeve. The older hunter let him go, and turned to face the spiky haired hunter. Kenshin sighed, and began smoothing out the wrinkles and dusting off his black coat. Yagari fixed Sanosuke Sagara with a ticked off look.

"You're late Sagara!"

The three of them were standing at the front of a bar. Before Sanosuke had shown up, the bartender had been ready to throw both Yagari and Kenshin out. He still watched the two of them, that is until, Kenshin fixed him with one of his famous amber-eyed glares. The bartender quickly dropped his eyes, and busied himself by cleaning glasses. Sanosuke raised his hands in a 'hey man' gesture, and shook his head.

"Sorry, but you know the Council. They keep everybody on a short leash. I'm amazed you guys actually got away."

Yagari still looked a bit cross.

"The only reason we were able to get away was because you arranged a meeting here, then showed up,"

He looked at his watch.

"Twenty minutes late!"

Sanosuke sighed. Kenshin smiled, and put a hand on his irate friend's shoulder, and steered the conversation away from the second friend's tardiness.

"C'mon, let's find a place where we can sit down and talk."

After finding a booth away from most of the cigarette smoke (at Kenshin's request), the three of them sat in a corner booth that was also a ways away from the other bar goers. No average person needed to hear this conversation. Kenshin and Yagari sat across from Sano, each looked intent on the matter to be discussed. Yagari spoke first.

"So, what's the deal?"

Still chewing on the fish bone, Sano plopped a paper down on the table. The headline glared up at them, it's large black block letters accusing , and angry.

"This."

Kenshin picked up the paper and read the headline:

_**Dracula: Not Fiction Anymore**_

_Is a vampire loose in town?_

Underneath the headline was the photo of a teenage girl. She lay in her bed, her raven black hair spread out from her body like a sail. Her skin was ivory white, on her neck were two puncture marks.

"I don't get it, it's just another escaped Level E. What's the big deal?"

Sano tapped the paper.

"Read the article."

_Parents were shocked when they found their daughter, _

_Sixteen year-old Hayako Minazaki laying dead in her bed._

"_She looked fine last night…we just don't understand why…"_

_The rest of Mrs. Minazaki's statement was dissolved into tears._

"_The strange thing is,"_

_An officer at the scene said._

"_Was that the Minazaki's have a burglar alarm, so if someone,_

_or something happened to trip it, it would have alerted all_

_three of them. What's more is that Hayako's room is right_

_down the hall from her parents'. They would have heard her_

_window being opened, or shuffling, or her scream."_

_The one thing that stands out the most is, when Kiyo Minazaki, _

_Hayako's father, went to check on her, he noticed 'A strange_

_shadow that didn't quite fit the rest of the room.' He remembers going to_

_check up on it, then all of a sudden, he's waking up to his wife's_

_hysteric screams. 'It's like there's a gap in my memory.'_

_He told reporters. It's just weird. This whole thing's weird._

_Police hope they can find the culprit soon._

Yagari still didn't look convinced.

"Yeah, and?"

Lacing his hands behind his head Sano, leaned back and sighed.

"You are so thick man."

Only Kenshin sat there, contemplating. It was strange. A young girl goes to bed, only to wake up completely drained of blood? There were no signs of a struggle in the entire bedroom that the photo was able to depict. What made it even more macabre was the gap in the father's memory, and 'The shadow that didn't quite fit with the rest of the room.'

"Sano's right. This is something different."

An ice blue eye found Kenshin, and stared at him with curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

It was Sano that answered.

"Normally, people who have been killed by Level E's will show it. Bruises, torn clothing, cuts, hair and thread found under the fingernails. Something to indicate that they at least fought, or tried to get away. What's more is the gap in the old man's memory, and the fact that the girl didn't scream."

Yagari folded his hands in front of him, a currently un-smoked cigarette poked out of his shirt pocket.

"You think an aristocrat would have done this?"

Kenshin turned to the one eyed man sitting next to him.

"How? Their senate keeps close tabs on every aristocrat that's under them. At least, they're supposed to. Who knows? Maybe it's not even a Level E at all, at least not yet."

Both black haired men faced the red head. Brown eyes filled with intentment, a blue eye filled with cold understanding, but wanting to hear it aloud.

"Well, go on Kenshin, you have the floor."

He laced his hands together underneath his chin. His eyes were seeing in a far off place, a place neither of the other two new how distant, or how dim it was.

"Both the Hunter's Council, and the Vampire Senate know that a few of the captured and quarantined Level Es are managed by aristocrats and above. Those who have not fully reached their end yet still meet the same fate of being imprisoned by a vampire. What if, a vengeful aristocrat, or an unstable one, wanted to get back at humanity? It may use a few former human slaves to do so. And with their handy ability to erase memories, they're able to efficiently deal with any other obstacles that come their way."

"Well, yeah but why would even a former human agree to pointlessly slaughter innocent individuals in order to appease the petty goals of their master?"

Now it was Yagari's turn to go to that far off place.

"Fear. They know what they're bound to become, and they're terrified by the prospect of it. The aristocrat tells them that it will be a way for them to get their humanity back, and they're so driven by the desperate fear, they believe the aristocrat, and willingly comply."

All three sat in silence for a while, digesting the words laid out on the table. Kenshin had come back from that far off place, and sat thinking intently.

_Who's the aristocrat?_

His thoughts went back to the vampire he had met last night. Kaoru Kamiya had been her name, and although she came from a lineage well known for slaughter, Kenshin didn't believe it had been her. It had to be someone older…someone who remembered the war in its entirety. From the day it began over God knew how long ago till thirteen years ago, when it had finally ended. No one wanted another war, and that was exactly what this person wanted to start.

"Did the public see that article yet?"

Good question. Of course if they had, wouldn't there have been an uproar by now?

"No. The press doesn't want to alarm anyone yet. The first copies that were printed out got sent straight to the Council."

Sano smirked.

"It seems that the newspaper too doesn't fully trust vampires."

Yagari lit up his cigarette, while Kenshin just sat there. It seemed no matter how much time went by, nothing would change. Neither side fully trusted the other., and that combined with these murders, as well as anyone knew, was a perfect recipe for disaster.

* * * * *

They glided through the night, bringing the cold kiss of death. Like great bats, they flew on the cold winds of destruction. Tonight there would be another killing, and yet another empty promise. The aristocrat looked behind him to see if the former human was keeping up. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness behind him, large with anticipation, and fear. The two soon came upon a house, its windows stared eyelessly out onto the street below. Strangely the darkened rooms behind the glass made the place seem more intelligent, almost as if it had a dangerous secret to hide.

"Stay here, I'll see what I can do. Don't move until I've opened that window. Understood?"

Raising one gloved hand, the aristocrat pointed to the upper left window. The darkness behind it seemed deeper, yet more alive. She couldn't help it, the former human caressed her lips with her hot, moist tongue. The aristocrat smiled at her eagerness, and vanished into the night.

About five minutes later, the window opened, and the same dark gloved hand that had signaled the window, waved the former human up. Tensing her legs, she jumped straight into the air, and straight through the window.

There was a soft thud as her booted feet landed on a plush bur-bur carpet. She surveyed the room, and her human memories began to come back to her. It had been over a hundred years since she had first received the fatal bite of a pureblood. In vampire years, she was only twenty-three, but in human years…she should have been long dead. Her prey lay outstretched in the bed to her right, breathing peacefully as he slept. She knelt down by the boy, he looked no older than fifteen. It seemed a shame to kill one so young.

"What are you waiting for? Kill him! You want to be human again don't you?"

She did, more than ever. Lately, it had been getting worse, not that it had been good to start with, but at least fifty years ago, she'd remembered who she was. Her family, her friends, her name, all these things had flown her memory, and more things of her past went along with them more and more of late. This evening, when she had dressed, she had picked up a jacket that her grandmother had hand sewn for her. It was absolutely beautiful, black as night with silver swirls on the back, when she had been a human girl of seventeen she had called it her "dream jacket". That evening when she had drawn it out of the closet, she no longer remembered when she had gotten it, or who had given it to her.

The former human touched the neck of the sleeping boy, almost expecting him to jump up at that moment, and begin raising an alarm.

"I've already put him to sleep. I did the same thing with the rest of the household. It'll wear off in the morning, so we've got all night."

Her tongue snaked over her now lengthening eye teeth, she put her nose by the boy's neck, and sniffed out his rhythmic pulse. She could see the blood circulating through the vein, making it fat and rich. Sucking in a breath, she bit down, and drank, and drank, and drank…..

**Chapter two is fini! Phew, didn't think it'd be that long, sorry! Remember to review, for a nervous author likes reviews a lot!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone and welcome to the third chapter of Bloody Kisses of a Forbidden love!**

"You want to what?!"

Kaoru dropped the book she had been reading, and stared at Misao, dumbstruck. Misao smiled back, her fangs making her wolfen grin even more lupine.

"It'll be fun, c'mon Kaoru! It's not like we haven't skipped classes before. And besides, we've been friends since we were kids. Remember all the crazy stuff we used to get into?"

Misao saw on the floor cross legged wearing a pair of jeans and a Megadeath t-shirt. She picked up Kaoru's book, _The Dark Half, _by Stephen King, and handed it back to her. Kaoru put the book back on the bed, and fiddled with the zipper on her white hoodie.

"Correction: _You _skip class, _I _tag along to keep you out of trouble and get us back on time."

Misao toyed with her braid, and pouted.

"But you still do it, and I don't see how it's bad. I mean, I'm just so tired of all these stupid rules. You know, like_: No drinking blood on campus, _or: _Leaving school grounds is forbidden. _It sucks!"

Kaoru smiled at her friend. Sometimes it was fun to skip class, but Misao liked doing it so often, and Kaoru had worried that if she had let herself go with Misao as often as she liked, Kaname-sama would have probably had them expelled.

"Misao, Kaname-sama would reprimand us if he caught us skipping classes. In fact he might be starting to suspect just that, and besides,"

She put a hand on her roommate's shoulder .

"You can't go shopping at night."

* * *

The house was full of commotion. Cameras flashed repeatedly and detectives and police force buzzed in and out of the place like drones. In the midst of it all stood the close family of the deceased: Minami Shibuya, and her mother, Aya Shibuya. The little girl clung to her mother, still sobbing, the shock of her older brother's death had yet to wear off. Kenshin and Sanosuke stood off the side, surveying the scene.

When the activity had died down a bit, the two of them were approached by a detective. He put his glasses back in his front pocket, and regarded the two of them suspiciously.

"Relax buddy, we're with the Council."

The detective fixed them both with an icy stare.

"That's why I came over here. This is police work, the Council has no need to stick there noses in. A young boy was murdered in his sleep last night, that's all. I don't see why you're involved. People like you should be out in the dark hunting Dracula, and The Wolfman. That's all you're good -!"

Sano's fist had stopped one inch short of a painful meeting with the detective's nose.

"Listen Mr. _Detective, _I don't know what the hell _you _think, but let me tell you what _I _think. A kid goes to bed, and wakes up dead, and at least one occupant is wide awake, and there's no alarm raised. No scream, no sounds, no _nothing? _Well, let me tell you something Mr. _Detective, _this fits in with last weeks vampire murder and all the rest that are gonna happen if you don't let us up there to that bedroom so we can do a little investigating of our own! Are we clear Mr. _Detective_?"

The fist left the detective's face, and Sano walked, okay, more like strode angrily upstairs, while Kenshin looked from detective to friend, and back again before following Sano like an obedient dog. When they had reached the second floor, Kenshin tapped Sano on the shoulder. His friend turned around, the proverbial fish bone was once again being chewed on.

"What?"

Kenshin shook his head.

"Did you really have to do that?"

He shrugged.

"He wouldn't let us up here to investigate. And, the dick knocked the Council. Dumbass, maybe he should be one of those unlucky morons fed to the insane vampires."

"Sano! That wasn't nice!"

"I'm not here to be nice, and you aren't either."

Kenshin felt a finger poke him in the chest.

"We're here to investigate another vampire murder."

"Yes, but can't we be _nice_?"

Kenshin poked Sanosuke back.

"Nah, nice ain't fun."

With that, the spiky haired bird nest headed man left the poor, poor violet eyed hunter just standing there in pure denial. When they reached the victim's room, its atmosphere descended upon them like a heavy storm. Before, this had been a place of life, love, even laughter now…the aura of death had settled over it, blanketing it in a thick fog of sorrow and pain. In the corner, by an old dusty foot locker, sat a six string guitar. Trophies lines the dresser, on the wall hung framed award winning essays and photographs depicting hard earned accomplishments.

"Jeez, this kid had a whole life in front of him, a good life. Christ the bastard behind this was cruel."

Kenshin knelt by the body of the boy. They still hadn't gotten a name, but that would only matter later, when they were adding a name to the list of murders. The two puncture wounds sat beneath the left side of his jaw, two dark bloodless portals into a shell void of all life. He took another look around. Trophies…awards…the kid was well off for a good life…

"Hey, Sano, do you know if…what are you doing?"

Sano who had been snooping around in the closet, jumped, hitting his head on a shelf that held a stack of large encyclopedia like volumes that came tumbling out onto the floor. Rubbing his head, and grumbling under his breath, he stooped down to pick up the books that had attacked the innocent floor.

"Uh…sorry, what did you want again Kenshin?"

He had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from smiling. This _was _after all a serious moment. Violet eyes once again surveyed the trophies, and other things given to the deceased as a commandment for his accomplishments. Sanosuke fumbled the book he had been holding, and it slipped effortlessly from his hands back to the assault on the carpet. It opened to a page in the middle, the worn leather falling apart to reveal a sea of yellow aged pages, and on one, an old black and white photograph.

Depicted in the photograph was a wealthy looking family, all clad in fancy attire, standing outside of a spacious looking house. They appeared happy, a mother, a father, three kids, and grandparents. Upon closer inspection, there was writing underneath the paragraph.

_Keitako Shibuya (front center)_

_1897-1959_

"Keitako Shibuya?"

"You know who that is?"

He picked the book up, and set it back on the shelf along with all the others, replacing them carefully so they wouldn't fall out again if the shelf was somehow, once more, mysteriously knocked from the bottom.

"I don't know why exactly, but the guy was famously rich back in the day. Damn, this kid must've gotten his ancestors genes. "

Sano walked back over to Kenshin, who still knelt by the corpse.

"So, what were you gonna ask me?"

"Hayako Minazaki. What of her background?"

Sanosuke sat back, and looked up at the ceiling.

"Another promising one. Rich girl, good family history, multiple scholarships too."

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the red head who knelt deep in thought. The frayed, lost strings were starting to tie themselves together, and within the web, Sanosuke could see a plan being wrought out on the fabric bars.

"You think its connected. Don't you?"

He stood up, black coat falling down languorously down his back like a river of death until it reached the backs of his knees. The afternoon sun streamed in through the window, and although something like that would have looked gloriously golden, it appeared to be a thin shade of gray. It seemed to his eyes that the room was losing color, everything was becoming gray. Of course that's what death was. Not black, not white, just gray. People, art teachers mainly, said that the neutral colors were black, white, and gray, but they were wrong because with colors came feelings. Red was anger, thrill and passion. Green meant calm, peace, seclusion. White meant protection, the greatest level of love and light. Even black meant something: fear, despair, hopelessness the constant nagging reminder that everything you loved was lost and it was all your fault, but not gray. Gray meant nothing at all, it was blatant. Gray was the true definition of neutral. Gray was nothing.

"I can't say anything yet, not until a few more people are killed, so right now it's only assumption but…They both came from good families, both had promising futures, with everything paved for them. In a sense, these children, both of them had a power to change a small part of the future, and make it better…for both humans and vampires."

Sanosuke rose, and joined Kenshin at the window. Both of them were reflected in the glass, they looked as pallid and lifeless as the boy on the bed in front of them.

"If that's the truth Kenshin, and if its true that vampires want peace…why do they go destroying those roads to salvation?"

Kenshin closed his eyes.

"Maybe it's because they don't want peace after all."

* * *

She was tired of running. So far, Kaoru had chased down, chased after, and practically searched the whole freaking town _twice _trying to find her best friend. Now she leaned against a wall outside of a shoe store, catching her breath. The sun was out making her tired and left her feeling fuzzy, luckily she was in the shade so the effects of short term exposure were starting to recede. Sitting down, with her back against the wall, she cursed her choice of attire when they had decided to sneak out of school: short shorts and a black t-shirt with a blue rose in the upper left. Now not only would her top half be drawing sunlight, but since her legs were bare, it was even worse! And she was wearing flip-flops. _Can my life get any worse? Misao, I swear to God that if I find you, you will frickin pay! That is…if I could get up… _

It was true, thanks to staying out in the sun for so long, and running herself ragged, her body was physically unable to right itself. Weakness clawed at her, the fog in her head continued to deepen to a thick blanket of dark, cold water, and her throat…

_Oh no…that's right. _She hadn't drank since earlier that night, around sunset. Normally, she could keep thirst at bay, ignore it, but with the over exposure to the sun's cruel light, her instincts were taking over, crying out for the blood that would keep her from losing consciousness. People walked by in front of her, not paying her mind, her vision began to get dark, and she could only see the veins pulsing in their necks, circulating around the life blood that her ancestors had dined on night after night. Her fangs were sharpening, becoming longer, she could feel her tongue slide over them, her body was starting to tremble…it wouldn't be bad would it? She was close to an alley, so it would be easy…Just grab one, hypnotize it, put it to sleep then drink. Her strength would be renewed…and then-

"Miss Kaoru? What are you doing here, in the middle of the day of all things?"

Reality hit her like a slap of the hand. She looked up, her vision was starting to revert back to normal, so it only took about a few seconds for her to recognize who stood over her. Kenshin Himura, the man she had met a few night s ago while out on a hunt. He had his hands in the pockets of his trench coat, and his eyes glittered like violet diamonds. He knelt beside her, concern darkening his bright features.

"Miss Kaoru…is something wrong?"

Did her mouth even work? She couldn't tell, her mind seemed detached from her body, so it was a while before thought could reach her. He put a hand to her face. Th-thump, th-thump. His pulse beat steadily in her ears, her fingers reached out of their own accord, and tapped the skin on his wrist which showed the sky blue artery that delivered rich blood to his heart. Then her mind finally caught her, gasping, she pulled her hand away, and put it behind her back, curling it into a fist. Words started bouncing around her head, they were jumbled, alien things that she didn't recognize, couldn't even acknowledge, but the back half of her brain took over, and did the thinking for her.

"Mr. Hi…Himura…"

"Call me Kenshin Miss Kaoru."

"K…Ken…shin…I can't…can't…get up…he…lp…me….."

Kenshin took her remaining hand, and pulled her up, he glanced around, before his eyes found the alley that was behind and off to the left. He put his arm around her shoulders and steered her into the alley. Her feet seemed to walk okay, but her mind was reeling, she knew what he intended to do. _No…I can't…I won't…take blood …from a living person….especially…him… _

She was led into the shadows of the alley, away from sight, she watched as he took off his jacket, revealing the blue short sleeved shirt underneath. He brushed any remaining hair back from his neck, and looked at her.

When he had pulled them safely away, he had let go of her, and while he had removed his jacket, his neck vein had become more obvious, and in her fear she had backed away. Not much, just a couple steps, but she hoped it was enough to quell some of the blood lust. Mr. Himura…no _Kenshin _smiled at her, it was a gentle smile, she wondered vaguely who else got to see that smile.

Last night, she had fallen asleep in class and dreamed about him. Under a full moon, he had bared his neck to her, and she had bitten him. When he asked her, her heart had skipped a few beats, her face had gotten warm, and her hands had clenched into fists. His blood had flowed, warm and sweet into her mouth, and her brain had sent off a fireworks display of ecstasy. Now, for real, he stood there, offering his neck to her, and here she was, heart going a thousand miles a minute, refusing to take his blood, even in her weak state. Did that mean…

_Does this mean, that even though I've practically just met him I'm….falling in love with him?_

"Come Miss Kaoru, you need the blood. Please, take what you need."

Her ponytail thumped her back as she shook her head vigorously. The sound of him sighing reached her ears, and soon another sensation reached her skin: His hand stroking her cheek.

"I'm not afraid, and besides, you're going to pass out soon, so please, for your sake if not mine."

She wrapped her hand around his, and drew herself closer. The smell of blood became stronger the closer she got to his bare skin, his scent, summer roses and fire breezed into her nose, tickling the sensitive hairs within. Her fangs had grown long and sharp, she couldn't see her face, but Kaoru knew her eyes would be red. She felt her breath sail out of her mouth as her tongue licked the skin, wetting it, tenderizing it, dimly she heard him take a breath, more from surprise than anything. Kaoru inhaled, and then bit.

* * *

It wasn't like anything he had ever experienced. Sure, in the past, during the war he had been bitten but this…this was…it felt _good. _The other times he had been bitten he had felt like prey, the fangs had pierced him so deeply that he had been lucky that there were no scars, either on his neck or his wrists. They had tried to drink from him, suck him completely dry. With them, there had been nothing, they had not cared, in fact they had _wanted_ his death, but her… She didn't sink her fangs in all the way, instead she pierced the skin, and sipped from him delicately, like

_(a lover)_

A hummingbird from a flower. He felt her pull free from him. Kenshin turned his head to look at her. The last of the red glow was fading from Kaoru's eyes, and now they had returned to their delicate shade of turquoise blue. There were tears brimming in her eyes. She wiped her mouth clean of the blood, and licked it off her hand.

"K-Kenshin…I'm…I'm-"

Her apology was cut short as he pulled her into an embrace.

"It's alright, and Miss Kaoru,"

His shoulder was starting to feel wet.

"Don't cry."

* * * * *

"Hey, Kaoru, I'm…"

Misao's sentence fell short when she realized that there _was _no Kaoru waiting by the door. Misao held her purchases, volume two of _Dark Metro _and _Strawberry Panic _for her, and _Crimson, _and _Night Shift _for Kaoru. She shielded her sensitive eyes as she walked out of the bookstore, and scanned the streets for her friend. _Huh, that's weird, she couldn't have just walked off. _Suddenly it dawned on her: Kaoru had repeatedly coming up to Misao, saying 'Jeez, could you not run off, it's hard to keep track of you at school. Seriously! If you go somewhere, let me know!'

"That means that I ran off and Kaoru can't find me…um….what should I do now?"

She considered calling Aoshi, but he was probably in class right now, and she would get the third degree from him if he had to skip school to come all the way out here to pick her up. Not to mention that would mean leaving poor Kaoru behind.

_Hmmm. Last time I saw Kaoru it was…by Minamaki's Shoes! _

Using her vampire speed, she breezed easily over to the store, only to find that Kaoru was nowhere in the vicinity. Suddenly, a light breeze kicked up, and with it the smell of blood. Misao nearly dropped her books as the smell and surprise hit her.

_Someone's bleeding…_

Her nose twitched, trying to get a lock on the smell. It was coming from an alley.

_Maybe it's an unreported Level E attack?_

Misao ran full force into the alley, her heart pumping rage into her head. She was ready to kick some Level E butt, and save whoever's life would be in peril. When she got fully into the shadows, shock hit her, and everything stopped.

There stood Kaoru, leaning against the shoulder of a man with red hair and a cross shaped scar on his left cheek. Tears streaked down her face, glowing crystal white in the darkness, and her fangs sparkled rube, stained with blood. Her eyes went to the man's neck, and sure enough there were two puncture wounds, the bleeding had almost stopped so Misao could see that Kaoru hadn't pierced him too deep. The man who was holding Kaoru and stroking her hair glanced up, and saw Misao staring. Instantly, her mouth became a separate organism.

"Uh…hi! I just happened to wonder in looking for a lost little kitty…and uh…I…"

Then Kaoru turned around, shock glittered in her eyes, making them glow like blue gems in the semi darkness of the alley.

"Misao…"

Her cheap guise was busted. She sighed.

"Kaoru, what's going on?"

**And that concludes chapter three! Oh how I love cliffees! *giggles sadistically* See ya in the next update!**


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG! Hi! It's been far too long! My parents took my computer away and forgot to give it back! But, since I'm on while they aren't home, there's no telling when I'll be able to get the next chapter out, so please have patience…and…please…put the knives away.**

* * *

Silence hung over Cross Academy's Moon Dorm like a poisonous shroud, enveloping all in an invisible soundless void. In a semi-darkened room a figure sat hunched over a table. On the table lay a chess board, with both white and black pieces placed at precise locations. Kaname Kuran, the prince of vampires sat poised over the board. In his hand a chess piece glimmered like white marble.

Battousai. Just hearing the name conquered up images of a vast plain covered with the dead and dying. The man who had carved a new age between humans and vampires with his blade raining blood, was now a simple wandering vampire hunter, nothing more. That made Kaname wary of where exactly to put him on the chess board. He wasn't exactly an enemy, but as of yet he wasn't a friend either.

* * *

She ran her tongue over razor sharp fangs. The sweet taste of his blood trickled down her throat, peppering her mouth with his rich, dark, heady aroma. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she turned to face her friend.

"M-Misao…I…"

Luckily, Kenshin took over.

"Miss Misao, Miss Kaoru was extremely weakened due to her long term sun exposure, and she needed to regain her strength. Personally, I'd rather let her bite me, then she go after some innocent bystander."

Kaoru felt a flare of anger, but she let it diminish. After all, Misao knew she wasn't like those Level E scum that just took the nearest person they could find, and opened them up. Misao stood still for a moment, then started laughing.

"Of course, of course! Sorry, I looked so mistrusting before. I'm Misao Makimachi. Who're you?"

Kenshin smiled, and approached Misao without any fear and offered his hand.

"Kenshin. Kenshin Himura."

Misao simply stood there. Kenshin cocked his head to one side. Kaoru wondered what her friend was doing. It wasn't like her to be shy. God knew she wouldn't resist a chance to make herself known.

"Misao-chan?"

"Miss Misao?"

"Is…Is it wise to shake your hand?"

"What?"

Misao shook her head a little. Kaoru was a little shocked, and amused by her answer. Kenshin had a cute bemused look on his face. Mentally, Kaoru wanted Misao to keep confusing Kenshin, he looked so damn cute.

"I…I'm sorry…Miss Misao. I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

Kenshin said scratching his head.

"W-well. You're a vampire hunter! I mean if I grab your hand, it could be like activating a switch or something…and bam! All those hidden weapons might pop out of your coat, making you look like a pincushion, and me look like Swiss cheese!

Kaoru bent over, making an attempt to stifle her building laughter, while she put a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. Kenshin just cocked his head at a further angle. Meanwhile, Misao had turned a deep shade of cherry red.

"I mean…I-it's not like you're a robot or something! Which would be cool, I mean like, a robot vampire hunter? Awesome! Oh…I'm sorry, I'm rambling…uh, any idea what I say next?"

That did it. Kaoru doubled over, and began laughing. Kenshin chuckled, while Misao was demanding angrily what was so funny.

"I can assure you that I don't have an hidden weapons, Miss Misao. My sword is the only thing I carry on me that would be considered a weapon."

He said, brushing the left side of his coat away from his hip to reveal a sword sitting comfortably in a black sheath.

Kenshin looked up at the sky.

" Well now, since the sun isn't getting any dimmer, I guess you ladies should start back to Cross Academy."

Wiping a tear away from her eye, and catching her breath (deflecting the lightning bolt glares Misao was shooting her) Kaoru stood, and nodded. Misao huffed, but her anger had already cooled, and now she was just impatient to get back. Kenshin took another look up at the sky, squinted at the brightness, looked out at the street, and looked again at the two vampire women in front of him.

"I don't suppose you two would mind it if I walked with you part of the way."

The three of them were standing in the opening of the alley now, facing the street, Kaoru smiled, and was about to tell him that she would in fact, love it if he would walk with them, when an urgent shout interrupted their conversation.

"Kenshin! Hey, Kenshin!"

Sanosuke was running full speed, which was a bit surprising considering he had the Zanbato strapped to his back. He stopped a few feet in front if his friend when he saw who he was with. Teeth gnashed in fury, as his brown eyes darkened to an ebony. His face became alight with the fires of rage.

"Vampires."

It was more growl than articulated word. Sano reached behind him for the Zanbato's handle.

"Kenshin, move!"

People around turned to stare, Misao flinched, and Kaoru cursed herself for not bringing along a weapon. Kenshin barely managed to stop himself from unsheathing his blade.

"Stop it Sano! You're in public!"

That seemed to bring him around, and in good time too. Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin noticed that Kaoru, and Misao had adopted fighting stances, with claws and fangs bared. He thanked the gods that their eyes hadn't started glowing red.

Kenshin, nor the two vampires standing beside him, did not move until Sanosuke's right hand was once more at his side, and it looked that he was going to make no move to reach behind him again. Slowly, Kaoru relaxed, and beside her Misao did the same. Kenshin's hand dropped from the hilt of his sword, trailing through the air as if it were mud. Deep blue, and emerald green eyes glared flat hatred at the stranger Kenshin had referred to as "Sano". Kaoru found herself resisting the urge to fly at the man in front of her, and sink her fangs into his neck, while her claws shredded his flesh.

Growling at a level just below human hearing, she shook her head. The Red Thirst always had its drawbacks, and primal urges at extreme emotions was one of them. Sano didn't move from where he stood, but continued to glare at the vampires, who glared right back.

"Just what the hell is this Kenshin?! 'I'm going out for some fresh air.' turns into 'I'm going to go into a back alley with two vampire whores.'? You better goddamn explain yourself,, or so help me god, I'll-"

Kaoru clenched her fists, this was getting nowhere.

"Hey! Kenshin is not like that! We were just standing here talking! That's it! Just what the hell is your problem anyway?!"

Sano rounded on Kaoru.

"Not like that, huh? What would _you _know? You're vampire sweetheart, a blood thirsty bitch like you could never be able to know jack about hunters."

"Why the hell are you acting so fucking high and mighty, you jerk?!"

"Will the both of you shut up?!"

Hunter, and she-vampire quieted down immediately. First looking to Sano to make sure his mouth was in fact, closed, then to Kaoru who still regarded Sanosuke wearily, Kenshin sighed, and began to address his friend.

"What was it you wanted anyway, Sanosuke? "

Onlookers in the nearby street, having lost their entertainment, continued on their way, occasionally casting glances back over their shoulders, should they miss anything. A couple whispers circulated, but nothing was further uttered to indicate any importance to the hunters, and the vampires standing amid the afternoon rush. Sanosuke walked forward, and pulled Kenshin's ear close to his mouth so he could talk without the vampires overhearing.

"We've found a bit of evidence from our latest in the string of vampire related killings. It could be our break."

Kenshin's eyes widened with shock and excitement. Keeping his voice low, he whispered;

"Another one? How recent?"

"We don't know yet, the coroner's performing an autopsy, but the estimated time of death is around 2:30 a.m.."

"Vampire related killings?"

Misao's voice was heard asking from out of the area of the two conversing men. Damn the exceptional hearing of her kind. Sanosuke let go of Kenshin, and the two regarded the young vampire girl in front of them. Her eyes no longer smoldered with anger, but now glittered with a curiosity so intensely bright that Kenshin thought it a wonder no one had to shield their eyes. The red head looked from vampire to hunter, from girl to friend, and back again.

"Well Sano, should we tell then?"

Sano sighed. What a way to start an afternoon.

* * * * *

Kaoru tapped her pencil to her chin as she listened to the biology teacher drone on about something to do with thymine and how in RNA it was replaced by uracil. He began to go into a lecture about transcription, but she wasn't listening. Her mind kept going back to what Kenshin had told her when she and Misao were dropped of at the Academy gates.

"_Meet us in front of the clock tower at exactly midnight. I just can't shake the feeling that you two need to be involved. After that, we'll lead you into the Hunter's Council building through the back."_

She couldn't forget the way his eyes had glowed when he looked at her. A small flame had leap up inside her heart, grasping her soul in its warm comforting grip. It was Saturday, and if they were lucky, the teacher would be kind and cut class early. They were.

Getting out of the building had been the easy part, just walk past the Disciplinary Committee members, smile, and pretend to walk back to class. Now came the hard part: sneaking out of the dorm. It wasn't as if avoiding their classmates was hard, with most of them tucked away in their rooms like little secrets inside a wrapped box, it was avoiding Kiryuu.

He always had the bad habit, (or was it she?) of being right there whenever she was. The real kicker was that he wanted to know everything. What she was doing, where she was going, what she thought she was doing, etc, etc. Kaoru knew that Zero hated vampires, but that was a bit of a stretch.

As she came to the wall surrounding the Moon Dorm, she turned to see if Misao was following her, she was. The girls had taken quick minute to change out of the uniforms into more casual clothes. Tensing her legs, Kaoru leapt up and over the wall, landing smoothly on the other side. Misao followed suit.

As soon as they cleared the Academy, they zipped toward town. The large clock tower stood straight and proud, its outline painted in silver by the light of the moon. The roman numerals on the face seemed to float of the clock. Ebon black against bone white. Tow minutes to midnight. At the base, she could see two figures waiting patiently. The sound of their footsteps pounding pavement was drowned out by the chiming of the clock. Kaoru caught a flash of red as one of the figures craned his head to look at the large numbered face hanging in the sky above. She could now make out their faces in the dark. Kenshin, and Sanosuke. They looked up as the two vampires neared. Kenshin smiled.

"Right on time, Miss Kaoru, Miss Misao."

Kaoru smiled, as did Misao. Glancing up at the clock, and at the men in front of her, Misao asked;

"Well, are we gonna do this thing, or what?"

Sanosuke spat onto the street.

"Hang on there a minute, Weasel Girl. It ain't that easy. We have to sneak you two in through the back, just like Kenshin said."

Sano explained, jerking a thumb in the other man's direction. Kaoru had her hand over Misao's mouth, trying to drown out her friend's angry protests to Sano's remark.

"As you probably know, the Council doesn't take too kind a stand point on your kind. What's more is even though it's spot on midnight, the Council is still crawling with hunters. You'll more than likely have to duck down and hide more times than you'll be able to move. Even then it'll be risky. Most of us, Kenshin, and myself included can sense vampires before we see them. In other words, you're putting yourselves at a lot of risk even being seen _near _the place. Ya dig?"

"So, you're actually concerned about our wellbeing? Funny, from they way you first acted toward us earlier today."

Sanosuke shrugged his shoulders, and walked past the two girls. Kenshin looked at her as if to say 'I can't help him. He does what he does, and says what he wants. But he is my friend.' Kaoru couldn't help but wonder how those two had become friends in the first place. Kenshin was calm, quiet, and reserved. Sanosuke was pugnacious, loud, and confident, perhaps even to the point of being cocky. Perhaps? Hell, he was cocky. That Zanbato was obviously overcompensating for something. Sano looked back over his shoulder.

"Hey, you guys comin' or what? Kenshin, you know how Yagari hates it when we're late."

Kenshin nodded, and turned to Kaoru, extending him arm in Sano's direction.

"Ladies first."

_So polite. _Kaoru had to fight to keep the pink fires of a blush from burning her cheeks. Under the pristine light of the moon, they walked swiftly and silently. Kaoru's eyes pierced through the shadows, noting every crack in the pavement, her ears picked up the squalling of a cat a few blocks down. The night was her territory. After walking down many a winding street, in every alley the city could possibly hold, Sanosuke stopped in front of a door. Kenshin came up to stand beside his friend, and tapped him on the shoulder, and whispered into Sano's ear. Although she couldn't hear the entire phrase, she managed to catch the words "Quickly.", "…the library.", and "…dangerous."

She looked over at her friend, wondering if Misao had caught any of that. Obviously not, her face was bathed in the soft glow of a cell phone as she texted Aoshi. (AN: Sorry, it popped into my head. Could not resist! ^_^) With her amazing agility, Kaoru grabbed the phone, flipped it shut, and shoved it in her pocket. Misao pouted, sticking out her lower lip, and giving Kaoru puppy eyes.

"Seriously? Texting your boyfriend at this hour?"

"Hey, Missy, Weasel Girl, you guys gonna stand there all night?"

She noticed Misao making a showy gesture a clenching her fists, and gnashing her teeth. Laying her hand on her friend's back she shoved Misao forward. The two vampires found themselves in a dusty storeroom. Books sat in shelves, untouched for years, yellowed files sat on various desks, and on the floor. Which happened to be buried by an inch thick covering of dust. A single light bulb illuminated the room in a sickly yellow glow. Kenshin and Sano strode forward, leaving twin sets of footprints in the dust. They stopped in front of a closed door adjacent to the one they entered. From behind this new door, Kaoru could hear far off footsteps, and the murmur of voices. The aura of humans hovered about this place, thrumming with energy. Crackling among it was the eagerness of the predatory vampire hunter.

"All clear. Let's move."

The hinges creaked a little as the door was opened. A vertical beam of saffron light shot out from the space between the slightly open door and the wall. Misao covered her eyes with her wrist, and Kaoru hissed as the light tried to sear her retinas. Sano stepped out, and made a 'C'mon' gesture with his hand, and the three of them followed him out of the storeroom. The change in scenery was so dramatic Kaoru had to look back over her shoulder just to make sure she really had come from a room that looked so old it practically begged to be haunted. They were standing in a dimly lit hallway, but the surrounding area looked so new, so well kept. The wooden floor shone, and was unscuffed, the walls, and the doors on either side of them showed no signs of neglect. _Huh. It seems the Council has its own little time machine. Too bad it only goes to one place, and that happens to be Destination Unknown. _

As if reading her thoughts, Kenshin interjected.

"That's the room where old records, dating back to two hundred years ago are stored. That room's suffered a bit of neglect. In fact, it earned the nickname 'The Forgotten Chamber'."

Misao stared at him, incredulous.

"You mean, there's stuff back there from the eighteen hundreds? Why?"

Sano answered this.

"Because the past can teach valuable lessons. Thos records more often than not hold the key to the downfall of practically all vampire kind. You're just lucky no one has the heart to look through all of them, otherwise, you'd all be dust."

Kaoru was about to give Sanosuke a good tongue lashing., and a hit on the head, when the sound of approaching voices reached her ears. Kenshin heard it, and looked at his friend. The spiky haired man panicked.

"Fuck!"

He whispered, before grabbing Misao and Kaoru, and shoving them into a small closet. There was a clicking noise as Sano grappled with the door knob trying to get it to turn, when Kaoru saw that her elbow was in they way. She moved her arm above her head, as much as she could, then picked up a faint clicking as the door latched into place. As the sound of the voices drew nearer, it was two people by the sound of it, Sanosuke turned around to bluff with Kenshin when he noticed his mistake.

Meanwhile, in the closet, Kaoru was aware of how close she and Misao were, she could feel her friend's breath wreath her face in a warm, moist mist. Her breathing was deep, and…wait…_deep? _Kaoru stood in the dark, and listened more intently on the sound of the person breathing in front of her. Yep, it was definitely masculine. The shock caused her eyes to fly open like the wings of a startled bird. She hadn't been shut in a closet with Misao, she'd been shut in with Kenshin. .All at once, she was thankful of the darkness, it would hide how red her face was. Sadly, it couldn't mask the sound of her heartbeat. Her heart fluttered in her chest, beating frantically against her ribs, pounding against her body, searching for a way out, for a way to love the man in front of her. Kenshin gulped.

"Miss Kaoru?"

"…yes?"

Kenshin's breathing quickened.

"Is there any way you could move back?'

"No, I'm up against a wall."

"So am I, and my leg's going to sleep."

The only thing to do was for him to move forward, but that meant that they would be touching in more ways than one. What's more was that their lips would be a feather's breadth apart. Suddenly, her body., not her throat, ached for him. He was in front of her, she could hear his breathing, feel his heartbeat, and his body, so close to hers. Oh, she wanted him, _so bad. _

Sanosuke was freaking out. Kenshin was in the closet, and not Misao. What's more was that there was no where he could stow her fast enough. The people were getting closer. And in a few minutes, they would round the corner, and their sixth sense would kick start their weapon hands. _What the hell do I do? Just what the _hell _do I fucking do? _

"Hey, Rooster Head!"

Sanosuke whipped around, to find…nothing. Where was she?

"Look up, stupid."

He looked up, still nothing. _The hell? _

"Can't find me, can ya?"

"What are you doing?"

A giggle from nowhere.

"Invisibility. It's one of my handy little powers. I _do _come from a line of prestigious ninjas you know."

"Then if you can do that, then why did you just stand there and watch me freak out?!"

No answer.

"Oh, c'mon, answer me dammit!"

"…Sano-san?"

Behind him stood two men who looked to be in their mid twenties. The one of the left had shoulder length brown hair, and bright green eyes. His t-shirt proclaimed, in bright red letters against a black background that 'While any retard can get up on stage an rhyme, it takes REAL talent to rock from1969 to today. Go Ozzy!' On the right was a blond with spiky hair. He wore a green hoodie with a grey shirt underneath. The thing that both of them had in common was that they were looking at the nineteen year-old like he had just sprouted beanstalks for ears.

"Uh, hey! What're you fine gents doing? Passing through, because as you probably know, this place end in a dead end."

Green eyes fixed on blue. They turned back to look at Sano then back at each other, then back to Sano.

"…Yeah…catch you later Sagara-san."

After they had walked through one of the may doors lining the wall (AN: Is it just me, or does there seem to be the reoccurring pattern of closed doors, and hallways?), and after making sure that it was firmly latched, and the two hunter weren't going to spring out and raise the alarm, Sano sighed, and leaned against the wall. To his left, Misao reappeared, ginning like an idiot, and giggling like a giddy school girl.

"Hah, they looked at you as if you were insane."

"It's a wonder I'm not Weasel Girl."

"I am not a weasel! Rooster Head!"

"Weasel Girl!"

"Rooster!"

While this little argument was going on, Kenshin and Kaoru, were still locked in the closet. Kenshin had moved forward, and now they were literally breathing each other's air. _He's so close. I could kiss him. _The thought buzzed around Kaoru's mind, flitting here and there on tiny wings, never completely stopping. _So close. I can feel her breathing. If I listen hard enough, I can hear her heart beating away. Or is that mine? _Kenshin's mind was like a box full of loose strings. The more they sat there, the worse the knot became, and the harder it was to untangle them all.

"Kenshin."

More breath than name. Inside his head, soft delicate red, bloomed, unfolding like the petals of some rare, exotic rose.

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

His voice, silky smooth, yet rough and dangerous. She could lose herself on just his voice alone. Kaoru Kamiya, heir to the great line of weapons masters, was being undone by the mere voice of a vampire hunter, when her ancestors had killed thousands.

"I think that-"

Kaoru never got to finish her sentence. There was a small flash in the dark, and a click as the door knob was turned, and both vampire, and hunter, who had been leaning against the door, tumbled out somehow without a great deal of noise. Unfortunately, Kenshin landed right on top of Kaoru. For some time, all they could see, all they could comprehend was each other. Sights, sounds, sensations had diminished to the person directly in front of them. Kaoru found herself captivated by his innocent eyes. It seemed that she could peer for an eternity into those violet panes of glass, little by little seeing the kind of man he was, and was to become. Kenshin had eyes only for her face. That ivory skin, so offset by the ebon hair, and vibrant lips. Red, and full, they put the most gorgeous rose to shame.

"Miss Kaoru….I'm sorry."

"It…It's…okay."

"Wow, Kenshin, normally the fish bite the hook, not the other way around."

"Holy cow Kaoru! What would Aido say about this?"

Gingerly, Kenshin got off Kaoru, careful not to hurt her, which wouldn't have mattered anyway, she could do far more damage to him just by flicking her fingers.

"It's not like that Sano, I fell is all."

"Uh-huh."

Kaoru pushed herself up off the floor, and rolled her eyes at Misao.

"For once, that idiot's mouth would actually _stop _working."

Later, after a good deal of walking, but thankfully, no more hiding (and for Kaoru and Kenshin's sake, no more being shoved in closets together.), they came to the library. Unlike most rooms inside the Council, the door to this one was window paned glass. It seemed so incredibly open, with nothing to hide. If one stopped at stare, they could actually see the staircase leading up to the second level. Beside Kaoru, Kenshin checked his watch.

"Well?"

"We're about three minutes late, but that's nothing compared to your record."

"Oh, c'mon."

The door was opened. Inside was a lush deep hunter green carpet, with bookshelves as far as the eye could see. Off to the left was the spiral staircase that led upstairs, The banner gleamed silver in the light of the chandelier that hung from the ceiling. For furniture there were a few tables, and plush chairs, and the occasional desk. The main hallway split off into four separate hallways on each side. Kaoru wondered just what exactly was kept in here. Some of the shelves were blocked by a glass door that near the right center had a keyhole. _Is it a library of records? A plain library, or both? _While her mind was focused on where she was, and not on where her feet were going, shock zapped her nerves when she found the floor coming up to give her head a welcoming smack.

When the shock had faded, and she had reassured everyone that she was alright (not that Sano needed much reassuring. All she got from him was 'Watch your feet Missy'), a voice cut through the grey fog of blankness that followed soon after shock is relieved.

"Whoops sorry, forgot I'd dropped that."

Wait, she knew that voice. Brushing off her knees, she looked at the person, that had stooped down to pick up the book.

"Y-Yagari-sensei?!"

The one eyed hunter smiled, and the shock deepened from gray to black when she saw it was _genuine _not sarcastic, and cold.

"Yep, in the flesh. After all, there's only one Yagari around here, who did you think these two were talking about?"

Now I was Misao's turn to offer a response.

"But I didn't think we'd be working with you!"

"Seeing as how you often mean well Makimachi, I'm going to overlook that."

Yagari placed the book I it's proper place on the shelf, Kaoru was quick enough to notice the title; _H.P. Lovecraft: Necronomicon. _

"Come, the evidence is this way."

As the four followed to older hunter to the far back of the library, the only thing that the two vampire girls could think of was _We are so screwed._

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**Whoa! Sorry, I didn't put Yahiko in, he'll come in the next chapter I promise! Anyways, review please. These are quite appreciated. Cookies, not razors!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey readers! How's life going? I've been given a pretty big push for this story, and now the inspiration is just flowing from my fingertips! (Okay, more like my radio)**

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As the strange group walked to the far back of the library, a pair of wide, eager eyes watched them. Vampires. They had dared to go so far as breach enemy territory, and even hypnotize three hunters with their unholy powers! The watcher clenched his fist. Those vampires would feel the taste of his blade.

Kaoru glanced out the window. Good, it wasn't getting any brighter. They still had some time. At the far back sat a long oak table. Yagari stopped and gestured.

"There's your evidence."

Misao huffed.

"A table? Our evidence is a table?"

Sano ruffled Misao's hair, much to her disliking.

"No, look on the table, you stupid weasel."

On the table sat a scrap of black cloth with a little bit of silver embroidery, a cigarette butt, and shards of glass with blood on them. Beside each piece of evidence was a number. The scrap of cloth was 1, the cigarette butt 2, and the shards 3. Kenshin looked it all over with searching eyes. Sano looked at Yagari.

"So what, we've got a little bit of fabric, the used end of a cigarette, and some bits of broken glass. That evidence isn't even halfway conclusive. I mean, Kenshin wears black, and you smoke. If I didn't know you two any better, I'd accuse you guys of committing the crime."

Yagari raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Look again, my dear friend. In fact look more closely at the piece of fabric. There is a bit of silver embroidered on it, Kenshin's coat is entirely black. And also, as you can clearly see, Kenshin's coat is neither ripped nor torn. You and I know as well that it is the only black trench coat he possesses."

Sano was about to continue, but Yagari held up a finger.

"Another thing. If you'll consider the time of the murder. It was early this morning. Quite early in fact. Now, if I'd been involved, don't you think I'd be missing one cigarette from my pack? 'But you could've have gone down to the local store, and bought another pack.' Is what you would say. But, if you'll remember, the murder happened at the estimated time of 2:30 a.m. All local stores were closed at that time. Also, there's no possible way I could have gotten another pack from home. Don't you remember me saying earlier today that I would have to stop by the store later, and pick up a pack as this is my last one? And if you'll kindly count all the cigarettes in my pack you'll notice the number is remaining at four. The exact number it was at when I made the remark."

Yagari smirked. Sanosuke was looking a bit irritated.

"I think it was you that pointed out that number yourself. Wasn't it, Sano?"

Sano ground his teeth.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I was just trying to prove a point. That I _still_ stand by. This evidence isn't conclusive enough."

"Touga?"

Both men turned to face Kenshin. The wheels in his head had begun to turn, and once they started whirring, there was no turning back. Right now there was a plan on the production line.

"Is the blood stale?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean."

Kenshin turned toward Kaoru and Misao. Misao jumped a little, but Kaoru met his gaze.

"How strong would you two say your sense of smell is?"

Misao touched her nose. Kaoru cocked her head.

"My sense of smell?"

"What do you mean?"

Kenshin gestured to the glass on the table.

"The blood is pretty dry by now, but you should be able to get something off it. I mean, it's not the same as drinking blood, but I don't think it would be a wise idea for you to cut your tongues."

Kaoru nodded. Stepping forward, she gingerly picked up a piece of glass, and held it between her thumb and forefinger. It felt cool, smooth and deadly. The edges were sharp, and pricked her palm a little but drew no blood. After all, it would take much more force to break her skin. The dark maroon of the dried blood shone with the glass as the light refracted off its surface, turning the little diamonds of light into ruby crystals.

It wasn't as strong as fresh blood, but a small breeze of a scent sailed into her nostrils. Colors, and sound bloomed inside her head, as she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

_She is walking through the streets. The air is cold, and a fog is just beginning to settle in. Somewhere behind her, she hears the chiming of the clock. 6 o'clock . Dimly she wonders what she's doing out so late. The sun is beginning to set, and the local murderer is still at large. _

_A shuffling noise catches her attention. She whips around, and there in the semi-darkness, obscured by the fog is the form of a man. He is slightly hunched over, and his right hand grips a badly bleeding wound. A dark cloak billows around his shoulders. He looks at her, and grins. In the moonlight, she can see the shining fangs. His eyes are red._

_Screaming, she runs, but it is too late. Arms ensnare her as she feels the icy breath of death caress her throat. A voice laps gently against her eardrums._

"_There, there, I'm not going to kill you. Killing someone as weak, and defenseless as you, well I could do that in less time then it takes me to smoke a cigarette. I'll just make you one of my slaves."_

_Opening her mouth, she takes a breath, preparing to scream. A gloved hand clamps down over her mouth. All that comes out if a muffled squeak._

"_Now, now, none of that. I promise to be gentle."_

_Fangs sink into her neck. The world goes deep gray, then black._

Kaoru's eyes flew open. Kenshin, and Misao were watching her, while Sano and Yagari were reviewing some more of the evidence.

"Miss Kaoru?"

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she steeled herself before responding.

"The blood belongs to a former human."

"Were you able to get anything else?"

"Well, I was able to make out the form of the one who turned her, but nothing else. I caught something about cigarettes, so her master is a smoker. Although I don't know what that's going to give you. I'm sorry."

Kenshin smiled.

"Miss Kaoru, you just verified a piece of our evidence. You said the former human's master was a smoker yes? Well, what's sitting on the table? A cigarette butt. Great job!"

Kaoru smiled. It was hard not to get prideful, but Kenshin had just complimented her. What a treat in itself! She was about to thank him, when a yell from above startled them all.

"Death to all vampire scum!"

Crash! Bang! Thud!

A sudden weight on her shoulders caused Kaoru to drop to the floor like a wet sandbag with an "Oomph!" as the air whooshed out of her lungs. The next sensation that came to her was a wooden sword thumping her on the back of the head. Tucking and rolling, Kaoru flailed her arms, trying to block the alien wooden object that was trying to give her a concussion.

Wait a minute…what was she doing? She was vampire! And according to her vampire wicked sixth sense, the person on top of her was a kid! Hang on! So this little kid-

'_This __**little kid **__has me rolling around on the floor and flailing my arms around like some helpless damsel in distress! How dare he!'_

Getting her hands underneath her chest, Kaoru shoved upwards, knocking her assailant from her back. She whipped around, hands curled into fists ready to do battle with her attacker. Even from a young age, Kaoru had been taught never to take an enemy at face value. How stupid she was! This whole thing had been a trap! After dealing with the assailant, she would kick everyone else's ass clear to the moon, grab Misao, and high tail it out of there.

"Yahiko! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ergh, let go of me Sanosuke, I'm gonna beat that vampire-"

"No you're not! She's way more powerful than you, and she could've killed you easily."

Sano was holding a spiky, black haired kid by the shoulders. The kid, Yahiko by identification was wearing a yellow t-shirt and brown jeans, with black tennis shoes. In his hand he held a wooden sword, that was trying to find a way to clobber Sanosuke in the jawbone. Yahiko seemed to be growling as he tried to free himself from Sano's powerful grip. Smoothing her hair, and fixing her clothes Kaoru switched to a verbal attack.

"Just what the heck was that for?! I don't even know you! C'mon Misao we are so outta hear!"

Grabbing Misao's arm, she preceded to drag her friend from the library. She was halted by Kenshin's hand clamping around her collar.

"Miss Kaoru wait!"

She turned her head, still not letting go of Misao.

"What?"

Kenshin gave her a half-hearted smile.

"Please forgive Sano's little brother, Yahiko. He's young, and wasn't informed about this."

"But he attacked me!"

"Now who's being the child?"

She let go of Misao, who stood there, not sure what to think, and folded her arms across her chest.

"Alright, I'm listening."

"When Yahiko was born Sanosuke was nine years old. Soon afterward their parents were killed in a vampire attack. Later they were adopted by a man named Sagara who was murdered by his own team while out on a vampire hunting mission. It is widely believed that one if not all the men were former humans. Afterward, Sanosuke took Sagara's name while he had Yahiko keep the family name. Sano's the only family Yahiko has. Luckily, Since he's nineteen they can legally live together with Sano being his legal guardian." (AN: That's right isn't it? I'm not all that familiar with all the legal stuff. Can someone fill me in?)

Kaoru couldn't help but stare at Kenshin. Really, no lies? Guilt, like a heavy black sea swept over her. She had thought that this whole thing was a trap. She had even contemplated seriously beating Yahiko, who was nothing more than a spirited little kid who had gotten the wrong idea. Kaoru bowed her head. How could she even continue to feel angry when those two had been through so much?

"Hey."

She stepped past Kenshin, and up to Yahiko and Sano. The former upon seeing the vampire, let out an unmanly 'Eep!' and hid behind his brother. Kaoru put out her hand, surprising Sano who had been ready just a few minutes before to defend his little brother's life.

"It's okay, I'm not mad anymore. Let's start over. I'm Kaoru Kamiya, nice to meet you."

An angry face popped out from behind Sanosuke.

"Shut up ugly! No matter what you say, you're still a vampire!"

"Ugly?! You little-"

"Miss Kaoru."

"C'mon Yahiko, these girls are different. Missy here just has a hot streak, and the Weasel girl over here….uh…hello?"

All present turned to Misao who had fallen asleep standing up. Kaoru slapped her forehead while Kenshin started a little bit. Yagari rolled his eyes, and snapped his fingers in front of Misao's face.

"Hey, Makimachi, wake up."

No response.

"Rise and shine."

Nothing. Yagari sighed.

"I hate to do this."

Cupping his hands around his mouth, he got right by Misao's ear.

"Misao Makimachi! Wake up this instant or stay after class for detention!"

Green eyes flew open with a snap. Misao jumped, and tried climbing the bookshelves all the while shouting that she was sorry, and would never fall asleep in class again, no matter how boring the lectures got. Kaoru chuckled along with Yagari. Kenshin looked confused, while Sanosuke and Yahiko were enjoying the entertainment. Meanwhile, Misao had snapped out of her waking dream, and hopped off the poor defenseless bookshelf, glaring at the four humans and one vampire assembled before her. Kaoru put a hand over her mouth, while Yagari smiled.

"My lectures are boring huh?"

Misao's eyes got huge. Bowing her head, and putting her hands up in a praying gesture, she begged Yagari not to give her any detention next time he taught at the academy. Yagari rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Just don't fall asleep again. This is more important than economics."

Turning back to the table, Kaoru examined the evidence laid out before her. Sano was right. If you just glanced at it, it didn't appear to be very conclusive; however, considering what she had just picked up, maybe it could offer some sort of clue. But the only thing she had done was verify evidence. And since the killer had worn gloves. Or had he? Purebloods, and aristocrats who had former humans under their jurisdiction often had them do their master's bidding.

"Kenshin, was the area dusted for fingerprints?"

Kenshin sighed. From that sigh, Kaoru could tell that she'd slammed him into a wall.

"Yes, but nothing was found. In all reality, beyond what you've given us Miss Kaoru, I think this case has the high possibility of going cold."

Standing there, with his shoulders slumped forward a little, and downcast eyes, she noticed just how hard a toll this was taking on him. A bright orange flash of indignation, like a bolt if lightning flashed through her. The Council was built to exterminate vampires that would do people harm, and all they could come up with were empty leads, and dead ends?! Then again, what else did they have to go on? With no fingerprint evidence, and no eye witnesses, everything fell flat.

"So what? Do we just continue to let this go on? Kenshin, you know we can't do that."

Yagari said, in the no nonsense tone he had so often used with Zero when he was younger. Kenshin sighed. Violet eyes sealed themselves away behind thin eyelids, like roses of absolute amethyst, closing up for the night. The scar on his left cheek seemed to come alive, it stood out on his skin. Perfect and clear, the scar was the only thing to indicate the dangerous job he was involved in. The scar bloomed a bright red as behind his eyes, frustrations brewed unchecked, and multiplied. The case going cold; they knew very well that that couldn't be allowed to happen. They couldn't wait for another murder either. This time it had been both the mother and the teenage targets. Images flashed through the less traveled halls in his mind. Here, voices bounced around in locked rooms where the dead stood sentry outside. Cobwebs reached out from the dark corners to ensnare unwary victims and feed the sick, bloated spiders that resided within their tangled centers. It was a place inside himself Kenshin hated to tour. Every time, when he thought back to times of bloodshed, even if they were merely benign, memories always brought him here. And here they would bring him yet again, as he relived the scene of the newest crime.

_Blood, so much blood. This time it had been smeared on the walls, and soaked into the hard wood floor. The mother, Yuuna Kasugai, lay on the floor, her dead sightless eyes wide open staring at everything, frozen in time; they were the only eyes that had seen the murderer. The children, twins, a boy and a girl, both sixteen, lay upstairs in their beds, dead. The boy wasn't so bad, just a broken leg, and all blood gone. The girl had had all of her limbs torn off, and thrown about the room. Her clothes had been torn to tatters, and her naked body had been split open clear from collar bone to navel. _

_Mako Kasugai. The appearance of her room had, terrified Kenshin when he first stepped in. All around the body were various dolls. Play dolls, porcelain dolls, even cloth Raggedy Ann dolls, they hadn't been thrown about like Mako's limbs had been, no the small, inanimate replicants of human life, had been strategically placed. Some were kneeling, others bowing, while some were arranged in positions that appeared to be resembling orgies. A few of the porcelain dolls had had blood smeared on the lips, while the play dolls had it between their legs._

_And on the floor, lay Mako's body, with all her dolls around her, gathered by her body like some worshippers of a poisoned, mutated, cracked and corrupted idol. Odious, repugnant, followers of a masochistic, genocidal religion that required them to pray to an insane god. Sano had had trouble keeping his lunch down, and Yagari just stared, unable to comprehend. On the table, had lain a note. It was on a sheet of notebook paper, and in a neat scrawl, written in the blood of the victim was this:_

'_If you thought this was bad, just wait! You humans have no idea what the price of your blood demands. Oh by the way, how do you like my little presentation my assistant set up for you? I call it "In the Cracked Mirror, All Reflected is Sin." A little long don't you think? Ah well, I'm finished here, and my assistant is full. What a berserker she is! It took me ten minutes to calm her down. It seems readily apparent that I must dispose of her soon. I'm off, but first, I should probably tell you this isn't the only project we have going on. No this is only the first! Good bye, and good luck! Get us before it's too late! _

_How does it feel to know you're running out of time? Almost makes you wish you had the ability to live forever. The sand in your hourglass is slowly sliding down to the bottom, grain by grain, and I can hear it. Everyday, more sand is lost. What would it be like, to dye that sand red, liquefy it, and have to never run out? Think on my offer, I'll try to get in touch._

_-Your murderers,_

_Two vampires._

He had been doing okay, until he noticed the writing utensil: It had been a shard of bone from her arm, and it had been voided of marrow and covered in bite marks. The next thing he remembered was being slapped back into the world, completely unaware he had locked up. He didn't want to have the case go cold, and Yagari was right, they couldn't afford to have it go cold, not with so many lives at stake, but with nothing to go on, what was there to do?

"Hey Kenshin, maybe I can help."

Yahiko stood in front of Sanosuke, with his bokken resting against his shoulder. The usual cocky grin was replaced by shining eyes full of concern for the older man's well being. Sano huffed.

"Hell no. Our of the question."

"But Sano!"

"No, and that's final. I'm not letting you get involved. This is grown up work Yahiko. You'll understand when you're older."

Yahiko clenched his fists.

"You say that because you don't want me to be involved in anything you do at all! It's like you're always pushing me aside Sanosuke. You never treat me like a man, and I hate it."

Kenshin held up a finger, and did his best to prevent an argument, but there are indeed limits to a peacemaker's attempts.

"But Yahiko, you're only ten, and in all reality-"

"Shut up Kenshin!"

"Yahiko!"

Yagari sighed. He turned to Misao, and Kaoru.

"Oh brother, here we go again."

Yahiko had his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His eyes were shooting daggers and lightning bolts up at his older brother who did not even flinch upon receiving the 'damage.' Kaoru imagined she could actually hear his teeth scraping together he was grinding them that hard.

"I'm not a kid! I don't understand why you keep treating me like one!"

Sano sighed.

"Yahiko, if you'll just listen to me…"

"No! I'm done listening! If I was a kid, I wouldn't be here, learning how to hunt vampires. If I was a kid, I would've run away from everything, like a kid does. I wouldn't have kept the family name, I wouldn't have vowed revenge on the vampires that murdered captain Sagara."

Yahiko looked off the to the side. His voice lowered, as his eyes watered. Those hands, clenched so tight, they were shaking, relaxed, and hung loosely at the boy's side. It was as if all the rage had gone out of Yahiko, and now his hands didn't know what to do but hang beside him, limp and useless. For he knew he could never raise a hand against his brother in actual anger. He could feel the razor edges of a lump rise in his throat, and in vain he fought it down. He would not cry. His hunter's pride would not permit it.

"I wouldn't have stayed up at night, waiting for you to return, I wouldn't have worried…I wouldn't have cared!"

The fists, having once again, found purpose, clenched once more, as Yahiko's shoulder's trembled.

"So please! Let me help! I don't care if it's information retrieval, as long as it's something! And besides…if you were killed, don't you think I'd want to be there with you. I know you wouldn't want to die alone."

That struck something. Sano looked at Kenshin, hoping for something hoping that the more experienced hunter would tell him what he needed to do. Kenshin closed his eyes, and smiled. _He's your brother. He's made it clear that no matter the stakes he wants to be with you. The choice is entirely yours. _It was almost as if he heard Kenshin. Sano nodded, and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Yahiko, I'm going to tell you right now: This will be dangerous, and sometimes downright terrifying. If you ever want to back out, you can do so at any time."

Yahiko's eyes lit up like a wildfire, burning brightly from his heart as sheer flames of determination shone through.

"I won't! I'll never leave your side!"

Sano smiled.

"Then welcome to the team kid."

* * * * *

Outside the Hunter's Council, unseen by the eyes of the unsuspecting, a call was made.

"The evidence was discovered as planned. The hunters are moving. They have two aristocrats under their belt. We will now move to phase two of the plan. You will execute your final play tomorrow night. Do not let us down. If we are to be involved in our Master's plan of a better world, then we must exact everything to the letter."

On the other end, the receiver sat in a dark leather chair, reclined, smiling and smoking a cigarette. Through the large window, pale, weak strands of moonlight scampered around on the floor. Trying to break through the cloud cover, but too scared to fully illuminate the horror behind him.

Lying on the floor, propped up against an adjacent wall was his former human servant. She had also finished her part in the plan. Her neck was a torn ragged hole, and her turquoise shirt had been stained black as rich, sooth, chuck berry red blood had spilled all down her front. Soaking her breasts, and torso. Her jaw had been dislocated, and her fangs plucked out. They now sat, sticking out of the dead vampire's breasts, looking like two ivory, sharp nipples. Ready to serrate any hungry babes mouth that made the fatal mistake of clamping on the cold teat for sustenance.

She had fallen to the Level E category the previous night. And although a bit of a hindrance, he saw it as the best final act to the macabre play they'd be acting in. Tomorrow it was his turn to draw the final curtain on his play. He would also be finishing Act One. It felt great to be part of something this monumental. In time the whole world would envelop the image his master was currently setting forth. He smiled, his fangs glistening ruby.

"I understand. I will not fail in my mission."

The caller nodded.

"You have been given your orders. Prepare for their execution. Udo Jine! Exiled pureblood vampire, also known as Kurogasa. I will see to it that Phase Two is implemented after your objective has been reached. Good night."

"And you as well, Takeda Kanryu."

Kanryu waited for the click on the other end. When it mat his ears, he closed his cell phone with a smile. The human woman who stood behind him couldn't help but be angered by him. Scum! How dare he even think of committing himself to such destruction. But then again…she looked down at her hands. It wasn't as if she had much of a choice.

"Megumi."

Megumi looked up at the sound of her name, and immediately put a barrier around her thoughts. Trust him to probably be reading her mind. Although if he was, his face showed no indication of it.

"Come, just as Jine is doing, we must also prepare for our part in coming."

Feet dragging heavily, she followed her captor. Every ounce of her body felt leaden, her morals pleading with her to stop, turn and run, but the will to live kept her from defying her 'master.' Would there ever be an end to a vampire's cruelty?

* * *

**Chapter five is done, and Megumi has also made her appearance. I'm still trying to figure out how to work Aoshi into all of this, seeing as how he is at Cross Academy (or should he be?), either way, I need some help on figuring Aoshi's part into this. Kaname will have somewhat of a bigger roe in the future, and there might be a guest appearance of Hiko. I'm currently trying to decide what other VK characters I can enter in. Any suggestion on how to work a character in, or what other characters should be involved would be well appreciated.**


	6. A Note Not From the Author

Umm… Hi guys! This is MiekoYagyu, a friend of ForbiddenDreams13. She wanted me to tell you some very bad news.

**She's going on a hiatus. **

Tragic, right? It's totally not her fault. It's the jerk's that gave her all those viruses. Her computer is toast. She's so upset about this, and she's really sorry she won't be able to update. But don't worry. She'll track that jerk down in no time. His (or her) death shall be slow and painful. On the plus side, she's thinking up of even more chapters in her spare time. So don't be sad. It's not for forever.

Until ForbiddenDreams13 is back with a vengeance, I bid you adieu. Or as she'd put it, Auf Wiedersehen. She's taking German classes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, hello, hello! I have news! 1: My computer is back, but not the back I expected. My profile on my computer is shot, but the one I made for my mom is not, and since she has her own laptop now, this means I can use her profile to update. Boy did I have no idea that that would come in handy! 2: I have brought you this extended version chapter as an apology for being away so long. Now after a long wait…on with the show!**

Early morning light found its way through the large bay window into the library, shimmering through the glass, and laying gently on the floor. Kenshin sat in a chair in front of the window, immersed in _'Salem's Lot _by Stephen King. He was alerted to the sound of footsteps coming up behind him, but paid no mind. He had a pretty good feeling about who those footfalls belonged to.

"I thought you got enough of vampires just from your work alone."

Kenshin smiled, and closed the book.

"Good morning to you too Master."

Hiko Seijuro smiled at his former apprentice as Kenshin placed the book on he chair and stood up. Kenshin stretched and replied to the earlier statement.

"Books are always books Master, As long as I can feel the binding in my hands as I hold the book, I can distinguish the fictional vampires from those I hunt each night."

Hiko nodded.

"I have been informed that you, Yagari, and Sagara are working on the recent string of vampire murders."

Kenshin nodded. Leave it to Hiko to be well informed on what his former student was up to.

"I've also heard that the most recent murder, the one of the Kasuga family was extremely brutal, correct?"

Correct. Kenshin suppressed a shudder as the image of Mako's body flashed through his mind. Then, he became curious. Hiko wasn't one to openly discuss disturbing things, much less things that disturbed Kenshin, so why…

"Master, if you don't mind my asking, why are you bringing this up?"

Hiko sighed. He wore a white high collar jacket, black jeans, and red polo. He pulled a photo from the breast pocket, and handed it to Kenshin, who paled upon the sight.

Depicted in the photo was a woman…or the ghastly corpse. Her jaw had been broken, and her canines had been removed. Kenshin saw, shuddering with revulsion that they had been driven through her breasts. Her glazed eyes stared at him from the photo, and he could hear her screaming in agony as her mind writhed, unable to find peace in pain. Wait…the teeth…they were _fangs! _Then…he had done this to one of his own! Sick, muddy acidic anger welled within Kenshin. Scum! He crumpled the photo in his fist.

"How dare that lowlife."

"That was his accomplice."

"Doesn't matter. To do…this, especially to one of your own is unforgivable."

Hiko suppressed a smile. Kenshin was still as spirited as he ever was, and as gruesome as their new evidence was, it would set the ball rolling again.

"Master, how did you come by this?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Well yes."

Hiko sighed, and pulled a folded envelope from his pants pocket, the one that contained the very photo Kenshin held in his hands. On the back was a broken wax seal of a bat's head with saber teeth.

"It was mailed here. By the killer."

* * *

Kaoru yawned, rolled over and glanced at the clock by her bed. In pulsing neon green numbers, it announced, much to her dismay that it was only 2 o' clock in the afternoon. Groaning, she threw the blankets back over her head, begging sleep to come.

One minute…

Two…

Ten…

Okay, she wasn't sleeping tonight. No problem, she would just grab a book, and read until the alarm went off. Her blue eyes scanned the room, until they fell to a book sitting on the floor. _Urban Gothic. _Not her pick for the moment, but hey, it would pass the time. Sitting up, she bent, picked up the book, opened it, and began reading.

Unfortunately fifteen minutes later, she tossed the book aside, she couldn't concentrate. Her thoughts kept returning to Kenshin. The way he spoke to her, made her feel as if she had known him for years. She remembered the moment when they had been shoved in the closet…back then she had been about to say something. She had started out by saying 'I think that…' and that had been when Sanosuke had flung the door open. Wait… she wasn't going to…she hadn't been about to say…

"Kaoru you moron! You almost told him right then you loved him! How the hell do you think that would have blown over? Aaaaaggghhh!"

Although she kept her voice down, she ducked to avoid a pillow being chucked at her head by Misao, who muttered something in her sleep.

And another matter: Was she actually falling for him? A _vampire hunter? _Did he reciprocate her feelings? Kaoru shook her head.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm taking his way too far. I'm going to grab the book I tossed on the floor, start reading, and forget about him for the moment."

_But when the moment is over? _

Kaoru ignored her mind, and immersed herself in her book.

* * *

Yagari looked at Kenshin, the photograph held firmly in his hand.

"And Hiko told you this was sent to the Council this morning?"

Kenshin nodded, and produced the envelope. He noticed Yagari's eyes widen a bit when he flashed the seal, but the one eyed man kept silent. There was no doubt, that was a vampire's crest. Beside Yagari, Sano was staring at the picture, obviously disturbed, he was beginning to have second thoughts about Yahiko joining up with them. If their killer did that to its own kind, there was no telling what sadistic pleasures it could derive from a human.

"What of Miss Kaoru, and Miss Misao?"

"What of them?"

"Shall they continue to be involved?"

Good question. Not only were the girls' lives in danger from a nosy vampire hunter, if they went up against a pureblood, even en exiled one, would they be suspected of treason? It was unlikely, but the Senate took a favorable viewpoint on their purebloods, even if they were deemed insane like Shizuka Hio. Those dogs would fight to the death to preserve the lives of their masters. Sano put a finger to his chin as he mulled Kenshin's question over. Yagari however, had already come up with an answer.

"We'll keep them with us. Dangerous or not, they can go places we can't, ask questions we can't. And we need the information they can achieve by their means as well. These murders were done by a powerful, and like it or not, smart cunning vampire. It knows that the Council will be on its tail, so we're going to have to go off book. That means from every possible angle we can get. Those two may prove to be our trump card. We may be hunters, but we're human, their Senate will have a hard time touching us. Likewise will our Council with them."

"And Yahiko?"

Sano was observing Yagari, waiting for his answer. Yagari sighed.

"I don't like this either, but we're going to have to keep him as well, like I said, every possible angle."

* * *

Daylight. Jine sneered at the sun, and closed the curtain. He could hardly wait until tonight. The curtain would fall on his act, and rise on the second phase. Soon the world of humans would bow to the whims of the vampire overlords. He glanced back over his shoulder into his study. All that was left of his assistant was a pile of dust, It was taken her a while to start disintegrating, but that was the plan. Kill her slowly, take the photo, and send it to the Council. Let them run around like headless chickens for a few moments before they became enraged enough to plow blindly into danger. Kurogasa grinned. They were not like that, no of course not. He knew exactly who was on the case, and that was exactly why he had sent the photo.

Jine's hand went to the hilt of his sword, and his licked his fangs. Tonight…it would really start tonight.

* * *

"Well, what's our plan?"

"Since it's dangerous for them to keep coming to us, we'll have to go to them. Luckily, I have the remedy to that situation. As for Yahiko, when he is able to be with you, try to keep it strictly to information retrieval. Nothing more. If there is a confrontation Sano, you handle it, Yahiko is getting a good deal better, but he is still learning. If he goes up against something like what we're facing now…well, I don't need to tell you that."

Sanosuke nodded, distracted by his concern for his younger brother. Kenshin, however was curious about one aspect of their plan.

"Yagari, what did you mean by us going to them?"

"Simple, we go to the school, and pose as teachers."

Activity and time seemed to cease as the two men realized the full weight of what their friend had just said. Sano was the first to speak.

"You've _got _to be kidding. Us? Teachers?"

"Why not? I've had to do it. And if you'll kindly remember, it was ethics I was teaching. Oh the irony."

Sano laughed at the memory. Kenshin shook his head, and hoped he'd get a mild subject. Yagari put on his jacket, and lit a cigarette as he walked out the door of the library.

"Where're you going?"

"The Academy. That retired twit gets a little huffy if he's not given the heads up. Course I can see why, can't have people barging in last minute."

With that, Yagari turned and walked out. There was nothing left to do, but wait.

* * *

Sunset. It was time for the vampires of the Night Class to rise, and the humans of the Day Class to retreat into their safe warrens away from the dangerous, alluring creatures that walked the grounds when the moon was out. Kaoru ignored the screaming of the fan girls, and marched on past the Disciplinary Committee, glancing slightly in Kiryuu's direction, making sure he was completely immersed in his current job before turning to Misao.

"Well, do you think they're going to ask us to come out for another late night mission?"

Misao shrugged, while her eyes scanned the crowd for Aoshi. Kaoru rolled her eyes, and gently clapped her friend on the shoulder.

"Misao, I'm being serious. I'm not sure we can afford continuous sneaking out at night. Kaname-sama hasn't caught wind of what we've been doing, but I think it's only a matter of time."

This time, her friend seemed to be paying attention.

"I know. And I can't do anything tonight, I have a dinner date with Aoshi-sama!"

Cue face-palm. They were now inside the school building, and Kaoru's eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom surrounding her. She couldn't believe it. Of all the crazy things.

"Seriously? We have the fate of vampire and human kind to worry about, and you're worrying about some stupid dinner date? Just tell him that we're dealing with a Senate affair, I'm sure he'll understand."

"There's one problem with that."

"What?"

"Aoshi-sama doesn't know I'm a vampire."

Great. Just great. Misao had a boyfriend who came from a line vampire exterminating onmitsu, and she had omitted the fact that he happened to be dating a vampire.

"Why didn't you tell him this?"

"What? I couldn't! I mean that wouldn't have gone very well. 'Hi, I'm Misao Makimachi. I like you a lot Aoshi-sama. I'm probably head over heels for you. Oh yeah, one thing: I'm a vampire! So let's both go against our parents and our blood because our ancestors have tried annihilating each for the past century!' Seriously Kaoru? Vampire ninja clan? Human vampire killing ninja clan? They've been at war for years. If I'd said that, I would've been turned down flat!"

Cue the waterworks. Kaoru rolled her eyes. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Misao, what attracted you to Aoshi anyway?"

"Why his amazing personality!"

"Misao?"

"Yeah?"

"I've seen rocks that are more expressive than him. Even Kiryuu has more of an emotional range."

Misao rolled her eyes, and the two girls went on conversing, until they walked through the door, and their gaze happened to fall on the teacher at the same time. The teacher was busy setting things on the desk, a book, and a pen, and surveying the area to notice them. So the two vampires skirted his field of vision, and went immediately to their seats. Once sat, Misao poked Kaoru in the shoulder. She leaned over so Misao could whisper to her. Not that it was needed. Their classmates were chatting up a storm.

"Is that…"

"Yep."

"Kaoru, it can't be! I'm seeing things! Tell me I'm seeing things."

"Then apparently we've both gone around the bend."

"Well, at least we can share a padded cell together."

"C'mon Misao, be serious."

The green eyed girl sighed, and resigned herself to accepting reality. Standing behind the teacher's desk was Kenshin Himura. Kaoru also happened to notice that along with her and Misao's, Kaname's gaze was also on their new teacher. She couldn't read what he was thinking, and although that would normally come as no surprise, Kaoru found herself worrying for Kenshin. What would Kaname-sama do, if something happened to go wrong? She didn't think he would go against the Chairman's pacifism, but she knew Kaname would mark him as an enemy, and she couldn't let that happen.

The rest of the class settled into their seats as the chatter began to die down, Aido waved to Kaoru as he took his seat in front of her. She didn't wave back, her eyes were full of Kenshin. She was hoping he noticed her, and at the same time hoping he wouldn't. Misao's finger poked her shoulder once again, and this time Misao had to whisper.

"You think he's here to contact us?"

Good question. It was also the most logical of all reasons why he would be here. Which could mean two things: 1) They were being removed from aid or 2) Their assistance was being asked for. Kaoru hoped it was the latter.

"Good evening Night Class. I will be temporarily taking over this teaching position. I am Kenshin Himura."

No one really said anything, well, except Aido, but there were always exceptions.

"Himura? That's the name of a top vampire hunter."

Kenshin smiled. It was a genuine smile, and Kaoru inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Seconds earlier she had been ready to rip off Aido's head for his big mouth.

"Yes. You are correct. I am a vampire hunter."

Several red eyes flashed, but Kenshin paid no mind. A growl sounded in the back of someone's throat, but all he had to do was shoot a look, and the sound died down. Alarm bells were ringing in Kaoru's head. Okay, no nobody would make a move, but still. The hostility in the room was so thick it was like everyone was breathing mud. Kaname spoke up.

"You have no weapons?"

Crap! Now he'd be busted. Kenshin was wearing his trademark trench coat. Luckily, the hunter was well ahead of her. He took of his coat.

"No none. This place is a pursuit of pacifism after all Young Kuran."

Kaname smiled.

"Correct. In which case I trust you."

It was minute, but he nodded to Aido and Kain, who were immediately at ease. Kenshin caught Kaoru and Misao's eyes, but did nothing. A tiny flame flared within her, but she extinguished it. Of course he wouldn't do anything. He was technically undercover. She had a hunch that Kaname suspected something, but was doubtful he would let anyone else in. So far, Kenshin was safe.

* * *

The next few hours went by in a blur as Kenshin taught, and Kaoru worried. She knew her concerns were null, but she couldn't help it, so when the end of the school night came, and Yuuki came in to make sure everyone had been present for class, Kaoru asked Yuuki is she and Misao could stay after for a few minutes. Kenshin was still in the room, but he was too busy gathering things up to notice. Yuuki cocked her head to one side, but told them she'd let Zero and the Chairman know, and told her not to make it too late. Kaoru smiled, and Misao reassured her that they would keep it quick. The Disciplinary Committee girl smiled, and walked out of the room, clipboard in hand.

When they heard the door shut, they turned to Kenshin, who stood, coat on, looking at them.

"Hello ladies."

Kaoru smiled as did Misao.

"I understand you would like to know why it is I have come."

"We have our assumptions."

A knock at the door cut their conversation short. Standing in the doorway were Yagari and Sano. Kaoru and Misao moved so the two could walk full into the room. When they were all situated, Kaoru and Misao sitting on a desk, Kenshin and Yagari standing behind the teacher's desk, and Sano leaning up against the black board. Their discussion began. Misao was the first to speak.

"So have you guys found any new leads?"

"Well…if you would call this a lead, then yes. I call it intimidation."

Sano said, handing Kaoru the photo. The girl gasped when her eyes met its content, and Misao whistled.

"Gruesome huh?"

Kaoru handed the photo back. It made her feel cold all over. What sick person could do something that horrible? It also made her a bit unsure and afraid. What if their culprit were to get a hold of her? Would that be her fate? Or would it be something worse?

"That, you could say is the exact reason why we're here."

Misao cocked an eyebrow at Yagari.

"That photograph was sent to the Council this morning. This means we're dealing with a criminal that knows the stakes. Our culprit knows we're after it, and it's safe to assume they have ears in the streets, and may have knowledge of our network. It's not that hard to figure out the fine mechanics of a vampire hunt. Simply put: There _are _no fine mechanics. Find the vampire and kill it. We're stalking some dangerous prey here, so we're going to have to go off book to be able to deal with this threat. This means you'll be dispatched not only for information retrieval, but for battle as well. We need to find out as much as possible, as quick as possible. Right now, you two are our biggest asset."

Kaoru couldn't help but feel a little happy. It was different hearing the sometime teacher speak in this manner, especially to her kind, but she felt special for having heard it. And being called an asset! That meant she was needed! Who wouldn't feel happy? However something was bugging her. Sanosuke had probably seen the photo, after all, he was the one who handed it to her.

"What about Yahiko? Where does he stand in all this?"

"We're keeping him on this too."

"But he's just a kid!"

"And you are still a child yourself Miss Kamiya."

She couldn't argue with that.

"We'll stick around here, seeing as how this is the easiest way to exchange information. As of now, there are no more leads, and for the moment no news of an upcoming murder, but this may be the calm before the storm, so keep you ears to the ground Miss Kaoru, Miss Misao."

His eyes were gentle, but his voice left no tone for argument. They were still on the case, and would stay on until all this was over.

* * *

Jine smiled. This was just too damn easy. A maid, working the ground spotted him, and went to say something, but found herself drowning in a deep sleep from which she would later awake, remembering nothing of the strange cloaked figure she saw entering the Moon Dorm. Once inside, it had been even easier. All the good little students were in their rooms, so he had no need to use his powers. He did however suppress his powerful pureblood aura. He knew that there was a pureblood on the grounds, but the children would probably sense the second aura. It wasn't likely, but no sense taking the risk.

Seeming to nearly float above the floor, so quick were his movements, he located the room of the two vampire girls who were in allegiance with the vampire hunters. Grinning like the madman he was, he dissolved through the door. Once in the room, he slipped a letter onto the nightstand beside Kaoru's bed. Still grinning, he whipped the cloak around himself, there was a small burst of wind. When the mini tornado cleared, Jine was gone. Off delivering three more letters.

A dorm for the teachers had been built off to the side of the grounds. It was tucked away not very far from the barn. In here, Jine slipped the final letters. Yagari's was placed on the windowsill in his room. Sano's on the bed of his, and Kenshin's was tacked to the wall with the fang from his formerly alive former human. Call it a special decoration, it would entice him into a hunting frenzy. Or so Jine hoped. If it didn't his plan would still work. Phase One would end with a bang while Phase Two would silently simmer, building.

Jine grinned once more. He couldn't wait!

* * *

"Kaoru, what is this?"

"Misao, keep your voice down."

Clenched in her hand, was the letter Jine had delivered twenty minutes earlier.

_Dear Miss Kaoru Kamiya, and Miss Misao Makimachi,_

_Good day to the both of you! I am overjoyed to hear that you two are being kept on the case. Well, my case that is. Congratulations! I suppose I should be getting to my point. I have sent you this letter because I am currently holding a captive. A young, beautiful girl by the name of Rihono Makizawa. Here's a challenge: Find me by night's end, and she will be saved by the two of you. If not, I will turn her into one of my slaves. The choice is yours. I will await you in the gazebo of Ichi Ha park._

_P.S. Good luck!_

_-Udo Jine. A.K.A. Kurogasa_

"Kaoru, we have to go out, and find this guy!"

"Don't you think we should notify Kenshin, Sano and Yagari first?"

Misao was already lacing her tennis shoes, and putting on a black hoodie. Her eyes burned with battle rage.

"No! Didn't you read the letter? He has a captive. And if we don't get there by sun up, she dies! C'mon, to Ichi Ha park we go!"

Kaoru couldn't have argued. For she was being dragged out the door, out of the Moon Dorm, and straight into town.

* * *

Yagari ground his teeth in rage. So much for no more murders! The calm had broken, and the storm was in full rage. Slamming the letter down on the table beside the bed, he grabbed his rifle. Bastard! He took another look at the letter, and read it through, making sure he had the address correct in his mind.

_Dear Touga Yagari,_

_I hope this letter find you well, as I understand you are deeply concerned and disturbed by the recent turn of events taken place at the last murder. Well, sadly I offer you no solace, as another has been killed. (By me I should add. Ha ha!) What a naught boy to be out at this hour, was our dear Ryu Takani. If you wish to avenge him, meet me in the abandoned Sakaya Mansion, third floor second room on the right. I've kept his body warm in case you were wondering. No sense in letting the blood cool when you must be thirsty after you run all the way here!_

_Come get me!_

_- Udo Jine. (Kurogasa, as you may know me better by)_

He was definitely going to pay! After making sure everything was silent, Yagari crept out of the dorm, and into the night.

* * *

"You slimy son a bitch."

Sanosuke snarled through his teeth as he re-read the letter.

_To my hot headed young hunter,_

_Hello! I hear you have a little brother whom you think the world of! Mistake leaving him with friends for the night. Ah, how easy it was to take Yahiko. Of course that wasn't really any fun, so as to be expected, I killed every other occupant in the house. If you don't want your dear younger brother to meet the same fate, then meet me in the back gardens of the old library at the corner of 56th__, and Red Thorn Avenue. Hurry, time's running out!_

_-Kurogasa, (as you're familiar with)._

How dare he! Damn Kurogasa, damn him to the eighth level of hell!

"Hang on Yahiko, big brother's coming for you!"

Sano grabbed his Zanbato, slung it over his shoulder, and ran out of his room, and straight into town without a backward glance.

* * *

Kenshin shook with barely suppressed rage.

_Kenshin Himura, (Or Battousai as you were formerly known as)_

_I have a proposition for you, something I know you will not be able to refuse. You have followed my trail, yes? You have seen the ghastly remains of those wretches of human children, have you not? Now the game has upped a bit. It is my understanding you have had contact with a young vampire named Kaoru Kamiya over the past couple of days. You are quite worried about her are you not? Of course you are, after getting my message, you should now know that neither vampire nor human who oppose my plan are safe. As for Young Kamiya, I have associates, who are tailing her, watching her every move. If you don't want her to meet the same fate as my assistant, than meet me at the old shrine in the center of the forest._

_You __**do **__want her to keep living, don't you?_

_-Jine_

His jaw was beginning to hurt from grinding his teeth. How could he be so careless? Wait, if Miss Kaoru had people tailing her, then it was safe to assume the other might as well. His hand strayed to the hilt of his sword. No way was he going to let any harm come to them. Folding the letter, he stashed it between two books in the bookshelf, just in case someone would come snooping around. Before he walked out, he put his ear to the door. Silence. Slowly, he unlatched the door, mindful of the tiny thump as the bolt was thrown back. He held his breath, but still was met with nothing. Gently, he pushed the door open, peeked around, then stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. Quietly, he locked the door, and crept out of the dorm.

The cool night air kissed his face as he stepped out under the moonlight. The old shrine in the forest. It wasn't too far of he cut through town, but he couldn't chance anyone seeing him. His eyes scanned left and right, before he zipped to the far end of the campus. Once at the barn, he climbed onto the roof, where he climbed into an adjacent tree, and jumped down, now on the other side of the fence.

He had from now until the sun rose.

* * *

Ichi Ha park seemed to shine under the full moon. The tall trees whispered to one another in the small breeze that was blowing through he air. There was a steady sound of water lapping against shore as the wind gently blew waves into the small lake. The park benches were completely empty, and seemed to be dead, their rich brown color dyed grey as the moon gleamed down, the path equally empty, with the only things traversing it were the small night insects. Kaoru and Misao scanned the park, looking for the gazebo. About seven hundred feet away, standing in a small copse of trees, over looking the lake, was the gazebo. It was made out of wood, and the windows were like clear eyes, allowing every eye to see in. It used to be a place where smokers could come, and satisfy there cravings, but soon people began to complain of the acrid stench every time they went near it. So a non smoking sign had been posted, and now people simply sat at the small table, and drank tea, had picnics, or just made small talk.

Inside, she could see a figure sitting there, although she couldn't see if they were with someone else. Beside her, Misao bristled.

"There he is."

Kaoru nodded, they tensed their legs, and were about to charge, when a frantic cry caught their attention.

"Help! Someone, please help!"

It was followed by a sharp whack. The cry died down to a whimper. The girls looked at each other, nodded, and charged. They made no attempt to disguise their footsteps, as they ran for the gazebo. The killer knew they would come.

"Udo Jine, leave Makizawa-san alone!"

They shouted in unison as the bust through the door. Inside the gloom stood their culprit, alone.

Alone?

Kaoru stepped in, predator's eyes darting around the room. Had they made a mistake? No, impossible. This was Ichi Ha park, and they were in the gazebo… so why?

"What did you do with her Jine?"

The man held up his hands, smiled, and lit a pipe. Kaoru could see he was smiling arrogantly, but the moon was full in his glasses, making his eyes unreadable. Then he spoke.

"Help, oh please! Someone, anyone, help!"

It was the same high pitched, frantic cry they had heard upon entering the park. They had been tricked! The man laughed, and removed the pipe from his mouth.

"As you two have figured out, there is no captive, and I, unfortunately, am not Udo Jine."

Misao was puzzled.

"Then, who are you?"

"Merely a servant of Jine-sama. A devotee to the cause he has pledged himself to. I am Daisuke Kita. Please call me Kita-san."

Okay, the man here wasn't Jine. There was no captive either, so why had they been lead out here in the dead of the night? Kaoru could guarantee it wasn't to make small talk. For that matter, what about the _real _Jine? Was he in hiding somewhere? Was he nearby, waiting to strike once their guard was down? No sense dickering around, they needed to get to the point, before the point got to them.

"So why the letter? Why were we sent out here?"

"Distraction, and disposal."

"What?"

Kita smiled, and this time both girls could see his eyes. Kaoru couldn't help it, she shuddered. There was no soul in those eyes, just black, hypnotic voids.

"You two are not the only ones to have received letters. Yagari-san, Sagara-san, and Himura-san have received invitations as well, each different then the last. No doubt you'll ask which one is real. Simple, Himura-san's is. My master couldn't possibly deal with all five of you at once, and it is not you he wants to fight. This is to not only get you four out of the way so my master can achieve his part of the great plan, but to also dispose of you properly, so you won't be a threat later on."

They had been set up! All of them! And if she and Misao didn't hurry, they were all going to be in serious trouble.

"Then the part about the hostage…"

"I needed an ignition to fire your anger. Once done, you would run blindly into danger without a second thought."

He chuckled.

" Brilliant no?"

Brilliant! That mongrel! Kaoru could feel her fangs lengthening as the red rage took a hold of her body. She was going to leap at him, tear off his limbs, and beat him while he lay defenseless. But before that she would get answers. She needed to know where everyone else was.

"Where are they?"

Keeping her voice in control, and not dropping it to a growl was the hardest thing to do at that moment. Her gaze kept going to his neck, seeking out the pulsing vein. Kita laughed.

"You think I'll just tell you? I told you silly little girls. This part of the plan was distraction, and disposal."

Kita said, talking as one might to a little kid who has asked a very simple question. A dagger's edge sparkled in the dark.

"I am here to kill you."

Misao's hand went for her kunai stashed in a secret pocket inside her hoodie. Kaoru pulled her chain link scythe from a leather holster tied to her upper thigh. Not a good weapon for close combat like this, she knew, but she would be able to sever his head from a distance without getting to close to the dagger in his hand. She could sense the anti-vampire magic swirling about the blade from where she was standing. Time halted as the combatants looked at the opposite side of their fighting field. The fixation broke as soon as it started.

Kita faked left, and Kaoru lashed out to right, hoping to catch him on the rebound. He ducked the curve blade, and Misao threw a kunai, aiming at his hand. Her aim was a little off, so the kunai slammed into the wall. Kita grinned, and flicked his wrist, sending the dagger spinning. Kaoru ducked, and felt the blade part the air centimeters above her hair. She lashed out again, and caught his ankle. Blood welled up, shining with its own lucid light in the dark. Kaoru felt a dry twinge in her throat. Sadly, although the cut was deep, it was too short, and didn't go down far enough.

Kita pulled another dagger from his coat, and slashed at Miao, who whipped her arm out, and chopped at his wrist. Had he been human, Kita's wrist would have been shattered. All her move served to do was knock his grip, but it was all she was after. Once the dagger clattered to the floor, Misao flung the second kunai, hitting him in the shoulder. It made a satisfying squelch as it burrowed into his flesh. What she didn't expect was his left fist rocketing into the side of her skull.

Bright blue and red stars flashed and danced behind her eyes, and she was knocked to the floor by the powerful left hook. Her body was able to absorb the shock, but her head still had a pretty good ache. She hit the floor with an "Oof!", causing the stars to scatter in all different directions. Kita used this opportunity to gather the dagger up off the floor with his foot, and kick it into his left hand. In his haste to return his weapon, he had forgotten Kaoru, who twirled the chain link scythe in her hand, then sent it, diving in a silver arc, straight for Kita's arm.

There was a ripping sound as the blade sheared through skin, tissue, flesh, and finally bone. The severed arm hit the floor, some of the fingers on the attached hand were still twitching, and the arm itself was writhing, almost as if it refused to believe it was no longer attached to its host. Kita let out a pained cry, and Kaoru saw her chance. She snatched the blade back, and leapt, landing squared on Kita's back. She pressed the blood tipped crescent to the carotid vein, pricking it slightly, with her other hand, she wrenched Kita's arm behind his back. There was a crack as something was broken. Nearby there was a shuffling as Misao slowly got to her feet, holding the left side of her head.

"Speak! Tell us where Sano, Yagari and Kenshin are!"

Kita laughed, but soon found another kunai lodged in the floor in front of his vulnerable face. Misao snarled.

"We're not being funny. Answer her, or you die."

"Heh, very well. Yagari-san is at the abandoned Sakaya Mansion. Sagara-san is out in the back of the old library at the corner of 56th and Red Thorn Avenue. Himura-san is at an old unused shrine somewhere in the woods outside town. But, you two would never reach them in time! The best you girls could do is-"

Kita was cut off as a kunai buried itself deep in the center of his forehead, and Kaoru slashed his throat. Blood sprayed upward from the wound in a fountain of bright red. Two tiny drops fell from the kunai. Kaoru straightened up, and got up, off of the corpse. She looked at her scythe, and licked some of the blood off. Nothing special, so this man was just a former human. She looked at Misao, who was still holding her head.

"You okay?"

Misao smiled.

"Yeah. I'll definitely need some aspirin as soon as this is over though."

The girls smiled at each other for a moment, before turning back to the body. Kita's blood was spreading on the floor, but strangely, not soaking into the wood. It seemed that he had absorbed enough odd vampire properties that his blood was still able to keep some of its tricks.

"What do we do with him?"

"Nothing. He'll become dust soon, and the sun will vaporize the remains and blood. We've nothing to worry about."

"Alright. So, Kenshin is somewhere in the woods, Yagari-sensei is at Sakaya Mansion, and Rooster Head is at the old library. We have to find them, and let them know it's a trap. Who's closest?"

Kaoru took a couple seconds to think. In the back of her mind, she could hear their clock ticking. They needed to find someone, and soon. She couldn't help but feel Kenshin's fate depended on their speed.

"Yagari-sensei. Sakaya Mansion's only a kilometer away. It won't take us that long."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

* * *

It was one of the few times he cursed himself for being human. Had he been vampire, he would have made it to Sakaya Mansion in no time flat, but his human body put limitations on him. Oh well, better off being human, then a humanoid leech. His rifle was strapped to his back, and he could feel it thumping against him with every stride. The moonlight outlined everything, making it easy for his daylight accustomed eyes to identify the buildings. He saw the red awning of the Tailor Shop, so he wasn't very far, about fifteen to twenty more minutes, and he would-

"Yagari-sensei!"

The voices of Misao and Kaoru shouting his name, stopped him dead in his tracks. What the hell? What were they doing out here? There was no way they could have known about the letter in his room, so maybe they were just out for some fun? The was a brief flash of metal as Kaoru's weapon caught a tiny sliver of light. Why did they have their weapons? As the two of them drew closer, Yagari could see there was a bit of blood on Kaoru, and Misao seemed to be sporting a hefty bruise. What the hell had happened?

"Kamiya? Makimachi? What on-"

"There's no time for that Yagari-sensei!"

"What do you mean, 'no time'?"

Kaoru re-holstered her weapon, and brought out the letter she had stuffed in her pocket.

"You have one too right?"

Now he was stumped, and listening.

"How did you two know? Wait…is that-"

"Yeah. It's a letter talking about a captive, and giving a disclosed location where we can meet up with Udo Jine. Listen Yagari-sensei. Those letters were fakes! Well three are, Kenshin's is real! He's meeting with Jine alone clear out in woods! We have to do something!"

"Wait Kamiya, just hold on. Yours said something about a captive? Mine read about another murder."

"What?"

"Yes. And how do you know this?"

"Our fake Jine, who turned out to be a former human slave, told us the facts."

Yagari looked at the blood on Kaoru's hand and wrist, then at Misao.

"Well, yes we disposed of him, otherwise he would've killed us."

"So let me get this straight, you two, plus Sano and myself were lured into town by these fake letters, while Kenshin is brought to the actual Jine while we are disposed of. And the writer uses some kind of hook that will get us to run straight into town without looking back?"

The girls nodded. Damn it all! Yagari had never felt so played!

"Wait, Yagari-sensei, what was Rooster Head's lure?"

"…Yahiko."

"What? We have to do something!"

Yagari pulled out a cell phone.

"Relax. I'm on it."

Willing his fingers to move faster, he dialed Sano's number, pressed the green button, and listened to the ringing, praying that Sano would pick up. Nearby, Misao and Kaoru were practically nervous wrecks. Kaoru was tapping her foot more out of worry than impatience, and Misao was biting her lip so hard Yagari was surprised it wasn't bleeding.

_Ring, ring. Ring, ring. Damn it Sagara pick up! _As if hearing him, there was a click on the other end, along with the sound of thudding footsteps and rushing wind, that indicated Sanosuke was running at full speed.

"What the hell are you calling for Yagari? You'd better have a good reason, or so help me god if they kill Yahiko-"

"Sagara don't! Listen, it's a trap, whoever is waiting for you, they don't have Yahiko. There's just a former human waiting to kill you!"

"How…"

"I received a letter too. It gives you a location on where to meet this alleged Jine character, after giving you a hook, then you're killed."

"Are you sure it's a trap? How do you know if yours is fake and mine is too? Damn it I don't have time for this!"

Kaoru, having listened to the conversation long enough, grabbed the phone.

"Sanosuke listen to Yagari-sensei! Stop where you are _now! _Misao and I also got a letter. We met up with our Jine only to have it be a former human working for him! His dogs are luring us into town so that while we're busy dealing with them, the _real _Jine is busy with Kenshin! If you don't believe me ask Misao, she was with me too!

Before she could object, Kaoru shoved the phone in Misao's hands. The young vampire put it up to her ear. She couldn't hear any footsteps, which was good. If Sano stopped, he'd be more inclined to absorb what they were all saying.

"Is this true Weasel Girl?"

"Yes. It's true Rooster. If you don't haul your butt over here, Kenshin's gonna be fillet by the time we reach him."

There was a chuckle on the other end.

"Well put Weasel. Where's here?"

"Near the abandoned Sakaya Mansion. And _hurry! _Kenshin's life may depend on it!"

"Alright. I'll be there as fast as I can."

_Click! _The phone dead panned in the usual _wa-wa-wa _noise, telling her that the connection had been severed. Misao sighed, and pressed the red button, closing their end of the call, and handed the phone back to Yagari.

"So how far is he from us?"

"What was his location?"

"The old library at the corner of 56th, and Red Thorn."

"That library is just off the main road, so assuming that's the one he took to reach it from the school, and we're currently on Littler Street, which is about a ten minute walk from Red Thorn. Sagara probably cut through the alley on Main Street to get to 56th, which means he's probably twenty five minutes away from us."

"Twenty five minutes? We may not even have five minutes!"

"Relax you two. There's nothing to worry about."

"Huh? How can you say that?"

"If Kenshin was a push over hunter, do you think I would have teamed up with him in the first place? I wouldn't have even bothered talking to him. Kenshin's stronger than you two give him credit for."

Kaoru nodded. Of course, it made sense. She sighed, and crossed her arms. Just because Kenshin was strong didn't mean that she should stop worrying. She just hoped Kenshin was still on his way to the shrine.

A strong wind kicked up, rattling through the branches of trees, and tugging at the two vampires and one human standing out in the night. Misao jolted, and Kaoru gasped.

"What is it?"

Misao sniffed the air, turning her nose eastward.

"Blood… I smell blood."

Kaoru's eyes were huge. It wasn't just blood. It was _Kenshin's blood._

"Can you tell who it belongs to?"

Misao shook her head.

"No. For all I know it could be a homeless guy, or a robber cutting himself on broken glass."

"Kenshin…"

"What Kaoru?"

"It's Kenshin's blood… Oh no! We're too late!"

Kaoru took off running, following her nose. She no longer needed the wind to guide her, she had locked on to the smell, and was closely following it, she could hear Misao yelling behind her, but she ignored her friend. Chasing the smell of blood through the dark of the night, Kaoru prayed she would get to Kenshin soon.

* * *

"Kaoru, wait!"

Too late. Her friend was already tearing off into the night. Misao watched her bank left at a corner, then she was gone. Not good. She had to catch up with Kaoru before something happened. Misao was about to chase after Kaoru, when Yagari grabbed her by the arm.

"Let me go!"

"Makimachi wait! We can't all go tearing off into the woods!"

"Why not?"

"What is Sagara gets here, and finds we've all disappeared? That will only add credit to what the letter said. We can't afford that. We have to stay here and wait until he arrives."

"But what if there's more former humans stationed, ready to kill the second she walks by? She's so distracted, she probably wouldn't even notice!"

True, he hadn't thought of that, He sighed. Misao continued to look at him, pleading with her eyes. Yagari couldn't argue that yes, Kaoru may indeed be in danger, but they needed to wait for Sanosuke.

"We have to stay here so we can think things through rationally. Whoever wrote those letters knew that if they could bait us with something, they'd have us hooked! And if there _are _more former humans waiting for us, do you really think it would be a good idea to go running off after Kaoru?"

Misao stood still. If she'd wanted, she could have broken Yagari's grip as easily as she would snap a twig. However, like a smart girl, she knew he was right. The best thing to do, for Kaoru, Kenshin, Sano, and themselves would be to wait until Rooster Head arrived, and formulate a plan. Misao sighed, and felt Yagari let go of her. Never in her life had she felt so hopeless

**Okay, phew! Boy did this one take me a while! Well, here's chapter six! Hope you all enjoyed it! Seven is tailing this one, so keep an eye out for it!**


	8. Terrible Timing

Dear, dear, dear readers, I come to say something horrible! Yes, it is indeed very horrible! My computer has fried, and at the exact same time I become out of a job! And so, until I can either A) get a new computer, or B) get in my mother's good graces so she can let me borrow hers *which I'm doing so now* I apologize from the bottom of my heart! I will earnestly try to get as much done as I can, please be patient.

Sincerest apologies,

ForbiddenDreams13


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone! What should have been chapter six, but is chapter nine due to all the damn computer problems (as if my luck with technology was bad enough), has finally arrived. The next**** part in our lovely RKxVK saga is here.**

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* * *

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Pale silver shone on dense green foliage as the night wore on. The forest was completely void of sound, save for the occasional rustling of leaves when a stray breeze wafted through the trees. Out from the shadows strode a silent red haired specter, the sound of each step swallowed by the thick greenery beneath his feet. His black coat swirled around him, and if not for his bright red hair shining like the devil's eye, not a soul would know he was there. Kenshin kept his head down as he walked, careful to not let his gaze stray to the sword at his hip. He had told the young Kuran that he had no weapons, and indeed that had been true…in the class room. Before he and Sanosuke had entered the school ground, Yagari had told them to hide their weapons and hide them well. If their cover were to be blown, Kaoru and Misao were surly to be doomed. If he didn't hurry to his location, they, plus Sanosuke, Yagari, and perhaps even Yahiko would be doomed as well.

The moon disappeared behind the clouds for a moment, and everything became covered in a thick blackness. Nothing moved, even the air had fallen silent. Kenshin stopped, and put his hand on the hilt of his blade, cracking the sword from the sheath barely an inch. A twinkle of silver glittered from the blade. _A reflection in pitch black._ He thought. _I'm close. _

Indeed he was. Up ahead, past a collection of young willow trees, there was a faint orange glow: The kind of tiny light usually given off from a cigarette. A second light sparkled in the dark, and in it Kenshin caught the sight of two long, hungry fangs. The moon returned, and on the steps of the ancient shrine sat Udo Jine.

His madman's grin widened to a frightening leer as Kenshin drew closer, coming to a stop only five feet away. They stared at each other. Vampire and human, hunter and hunted. Jine spoke.

"Ah, you've finally made it here. I didn't think you'd come Battousai."

He chuckled, as if there was some kind of joke beneath the greeting. Kenshin didn't join him. His narrowed violet eyes shot pure hatred at the monster sitting before him.

"You didn't call me out here to talk."

Jine smiled, and clenched his fist around the cigarette, extinguishing the flame, dropping it to the ground. A sword leapt from its sheath, resting comfortably in Jine's outstretched hand. Likewise, Kenshin drew his own sword. Jine grinned.

"What? You're not going to turn the blade over? I didn't call out a simple hunter either if I recall. I called out Battousai."

Kenshin smirked.

"I won't need to turn the blade over. As you know this is a hunter's weapon so both sides have been blessed with anti-vampire spells; I won't need to turn it over to kill you."

The insane vampire laughed.

"A challenge worthy of acceptance! Let's see if you can kill me without turning your blade."

Jine dove in with superior speed. There was a brief kiss of metal, broken by Kenshin's swift dash to the right, and diagonal slash, parried by the flat of Jine's blade. Their swords struggled for dominance, until Kenshin spun his wrist, sending his sword under Jine's and clocking him in the cheek. The vampire's body fell with the force of the blow, but at the last minute, he spun on his heel, and executed a double slash; one swipe aiming for his neck, the other his sword arm. The first one missed, the second although unsuccessful in hacking the arm completely off, tore through flesh, spitting blood into the cool night air.

With a cry of pain, Kenshin dropped, both stunned by the quickness, and sheer force of the attack. The hunter knelt on the ground, trying to clear his mind and formulate an attack plan. If he got in too close Jine would have the upper hand, but he couldn't afford to fight at a distance either.

"Heh. I knew it. Unless you turn that blade around, you're no match for me. The way you are now, you might as well give up."

A breeze stirred the leaves, making them do a split second dance. When all became still, they hung on the branches; motionless, tiny spectators. Kenshin ground his teeth. He had to win, but how?

* * *

Misao paced restlessly back and forth in the empty road. Kaoru had blindly run off, Kenshin was bleeding somewhere, Sanosuke had yet to make it to them, and to top it all off there were two Former Humans growing very impatient…and possibly thirsty. Yagari glanced at the pacing vampire, then back to his watch. The second hand twitched past the eight, spasmodically working its way up to the fifteenth minute mark. Misao stopped pacing momentarily to growl and throw her fists in the air.

"Urgh! This is taking forever! Why isn't he here yet?"

Yagari sighed. He could really use a cigarette.

"He's a human, not a vampire, and I did say it would take him twenty five minutes to get here."

"But Kaoru may be in danger!"

"Do you really have that little faith in your friend?"

It was as if an invisible hammer had popped out of another dimension, and whacked Misao on the head. She stopped in mid-step, locked up for a second, and then whipped around so fast her braid nearly spun out.

"Of course I have faith in Kaoru! Her family consists of the best known weapons masters of all time! If anyone can kill this Jine, Kurogasa, or whatever the heck he wants to call himself, it's her!"

"Wrong. She cannot kill him."

Misao's fingertips began to hurt as her claws elongated. Her vision became lost in a red haze, where only the veins pulsing in the hunter's neck were visible. There was a vibration in her chest as a low growl emanated from her slightly parted lips. Yagari was not intimidated.

"And just what do you mean…'Wrong'?"

The girl's hands twitched on the last word, as if she were itching to plunge them into something, or someone. The hunter looked at her steadily. Her face did not faze him in the least; he was used to seeing enraged vampires with the claws and fangs drawn, ready for battle. She was young, she just didn't get it.

"Just as Kenshin was a slayer of vampires, Kurogasa was a slayer of humans."

"Okay, so he killed a few hunters but-"

Yagari cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Somewhere along the line, whilst killing vampire hunters, Kurogasa snapped. No one knows why exactly. There was gossip an anti-vampire bullet had lodged itself in his brain, or he had been captured and tortured by the Inagawa family."

Misao shuddered. She'd heard about them. The Inagawa family was once a clan of ruthless vampire hunters. Any vampire they found would be drug back to their compound, incapacitated, and subjected to almost every act of torture imaginable. They had been put to death after brutally murdering a daughter of their own family after she fell in love with a former human, and with his help, freed some of the captured vampires. Misao wondered if among the freed, had been Udo Jine.

"There was even talk that Kurogasa chose the path of madness himself. Nevertheless, one night an entire town had been attacked. Normally only those who hated vampires or were of a hunter's blood were killed. Those sympathetic to the vampire cause or those yearning to receive a pureblood's bite were taken in and used as spies. In this case, all 212 people of the town were brutally slaughtered. Men women, children and infants. Their body parts littered the streets and alleyways, and the blood ran into the streets like rain. Cryptic messages had been scrawled on some of the walls of the houses, and in the streets. Inside the church, the priest had been staked with his own crucifix. On the open bible was a message written in the clergy's blood. It read: 'Thank you for this fine feast. Kurogasa.'"

"But what does that have to do with Kaoru not being able to take down Kurogasa?"

Yagari fixed his steady gaze on Misao.

"The only person who can kill a hunter is another hunter. But that doesn't mean I'm not worried. Kenshin vowed that although defeating a vampire was not without the death of one's opponent, he vowed that he would never shed the blood of his opponent. That is why I'm worried. If he goes in like that…"

Yagari trailed off, glancing at the cold and stoic moon before continuing.

"Kenshin will definitely get hurt."

The pounding of running footsteps met their ears as a breathless Sanosuke ran up to greet them.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late-"

He cut himself off as he realized they were missing a member.

"Where did Missy go?"

Misao gulped. How was she going to say this? 'Kenshin's hurt, so Kaoru valiantly ran off to save him? Kaoru ran off into blind danger? They were all going to be doomed if they didn't do something? Off to the side, Yagari fished in his jacket pocket, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"It's started."

Sanosuke looked at Yagari as the older man stuck the cigarette in his mouth, biting down on the filter. Those two simple words made Sano's stomach drop to his knees.

"What's started?"

A small flame popped out of the lighter and danced on the metal, leaping and twisting, finally spinning onto the end of the cigarette. The scent of tobacco smoke rose from the glowing ember sticking out of Yagari's mouth. He blew smoke out into the night before replying.

"The countdown. And that being said, we have these options: First, we can run after Kamiya; that won't be too hard seeing as how you'd be able to follow either her scent, of the scent of the blood. It's not too stale is it?"

Misao shook her head. The smell of blood was still in her nose. If she closed her eyes, she could see a tiny red line leading from her all the way to where Kenshin was. If Yagari allowed her to run off, she would be there with weapons ready in no time.

"Second, we can let Kamiya handle this herself, while we deal with our own problems here."

"We can't! You said that Kurogasa could kill Kaoru!"

Yagari took another drag on his cigarette.

"And that is exactly why we will be getting to them, but in due time. What say you Sagara?"

"I'm all for the second option."

Misao's fists clenched. How heartless were they? Their friend was out there hurt, and they were choosing to stay put, let her friend get herself killed, and do nothing! She was not going to let this slide!

"You can't be serious! I mean we-"

"Weasel Girl. We have two Former Humans at two various locations in town. Not only that, these areas are filled with residences. We have no idea how much of their sanity these Former Humans have kept. They could be falling to Level E category right now. As hunters, our first priority is protecting those in this town who cannot do so themselves. We cannot have more people being attacked and killed."

It was tough logic to argue with. Misao sighed. Yagari was right anyway; she needed to have more faith in Kaoru and Kenshin. In the meantime they needed to protect the innocents here.

"What's our plan?"

The cigarette fell from Yagari's mouth, a white stump, stamped out by the hunters boot heel.

"We take down the two vampires in town. Sakaya is closest, so we'll deal with the one there first. However, we won't all go rushing in at once. We will play it to the letter, so to speak. I'll go in alone, looking as if I'm still fooled. While I have the vampire distracted, you two will position yourselves somewhere in the room."

"What are we supposed to do? Jump out and yell 'Boo!'?"

Yagari smiled at Sano.

"That's the beauty. In all reality, I will be only pretending to fight, in which I will surely be wounded. While I am on the ground 'in profuse pain', you two will surprise the vampire. Sagara, I suggest whacking it over the head with your Zanbato, and while it's unconscious, we'll tether it up, and get information."

"Why can't we just kill it?"

Yagari looked at Misao.

"Because I want to know exactly what's going on."

He dropped the pack back into his pocket, and turned around, looking up once more at the full moon.

"Come one. Time's wasting."

* * *

He had to win. His grip clenched on his wounded shoulder as the pain pulsed with his heartbeat, sending a fresh wave every second. Above him, Jine sneered.

"You realize of course that by continuing to think you can simply beat me into submission with that silly sword of yours will be your downfall, Battousai. If you were, however, to revert back to your old self, then and only then would you have a hope of winning."

Gritting his teeth, Kenshin leapt up and lashed out. Jine jumped back and swung. Kenshin ducked and thrust upward with the dull edge, catching Jine under the jaw. The pureblood made a gasping noise, and then brought his blade down in a sweeping arc, aiming for the hunter's neck. Kenshin dropped and rolled, swinging his sword, and hitting the exiled vampire in the back of the knee, toppling him. He fell forward, and Kenshin sprang, planting a foot on the back of his head, and raising his sword, preparing to knock Jine unconscious, should he make any other move.

"Well Jine? I don't suppose you have any other tricks. Admit it, you've lost."

Jine chuckled, and then he started laughing. His body trembled, and Kenshin found it hard to keep his foot resting on his adversary's head.

"What's so funny?"

"You call this a battle? You call this a loss? I'm still alive am I not? No, this is far Battousai, far from over. It's just getting started. Come. Let's say you and I give our audience something worth watching?"

"Audience?"

"Listen. Listen well Battousai."

He did, and out of the darkness came the steady sound of running feet. Kenshin was so intent on the pounding of the nearing feet that he didn't take notice of Jine's shifting beneath until it was too late. Jine rolled and swung, catching Kenshin across the stomach. Blood drooled from the red mouth, staining his jacket and the shirt beneath. Kenshin swung down, but he had been caught off guard, and Jine dodged the blow easily. Panting, Kenshin put a hand to the new wound. Damn him. Meanwhile the sound of footsteps was getting closer; Kenshin willed the person to stop running. It was as if their force of their feet striking the ground was going directly into his wounded body. Jine smiled, and dashed forward. Kenshin ground his teeth, and stood his ground, adopting a defensive stance. Just as Jine was nearly upon Kenshin, he swung, hoping to catch Jine in the diaphragm, and wind him. His blow never connected.

Instead there was a brief sound of chain links clinking together, followed by a salt spray of blood hitting him in the face. Jine leapt back, hand pressed on an open gash in his chest. With a sick feeling in his stomach, Kenshin wiped the blood off him. Who had that been?

"Kenshin! Are you okay?"

Two violet eyes widened as he turned to the source of the voice, turned to the one person he never expected to be here.

Emerging from the shadows, panting, and holding her chain link scythe encrusted with blood, stood Kaoru Kamiya.

* * *

The bullet whizzed through the air, lodging itself in the vampire's left shoulder. A bright flower bloomed, spraying petals everywhere. The vampire growled, and lashed out, claws scraping the air inches from Yagari's face. Misao launched a shuriken, missing by centimeters when the target ducked, lashing out with a leg, which Misao effectively dodged. It had been a double set up. Not only was Jine not there as they'd expected after Kaoru and Misao's intervention, but their target vampire had already fallen to Level E category.

Yagari jumped back, avoiding yet another painful meeting with a set of long, sharp claws, and whacked the vampire smartly across the face with the barrel of his rifle. The Level E flew back straight into Sanosuke's Zanbato. Again the vampire flew across the room, directly in line with a kunai. Both objects met in the center of the room; the kunai plunging deep into the Level E's throat.

The body hit the floor. It emitted a few choking and spluttering sounds before it became still. There was a small puff in the air as the body instantly began turning to dust. Yagari sighed and re-holstered his gun. Meanwhile Sano replaced his Zanbato on his back, and Misao walked over to the pile of dust to retrieve her kunai.

"Damn it all! A double setup!"

The old mansion around them groaned as it settled even deeper into the ground on which it had been built. Wood encompassed the entire room from top to bottom, smelling thickly of dust and age. At the very back beneath a boarded up window was a divan covered in a white sheet. Underneath this white sheet lay the body of another victim. Sanosuke walked over to the dust covered piece of furniture. The sheet was brown in places where the blood had dried, and there were ribbons of red trailing to the floor. Sano yanked back the sheet, and gaped at what he saw.

"Yagari, come here! It wasn't just a double setup; there's another fake factor here."

Yagari and Misao joined him by the divan. On the faded fabric lay the body of a young boy with sandy blond hair. His eyes were closed in the restful fashion of the dead...and on his body from collar bone to navel was a classic sewn up Y-incision.

"This boy was…already dead."

Misao murmured. Yagari looked first at the body, then back at Sano. If he had it right, this body right in front of them was…

"This kid, he's Mako's twin brother! These bastards took his body from the morgue!"

Sano shouted, more in shock than in rage. Yagari lifted the sheet even further back. Misao let out an 'eep!' when she noticed the body was completely naked. Sano rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Sagara, check this out."

Yagari was pointing to the left leg. When the three of them had conducted the investigation that leg had been broken so severely that a bone fragment had been sticking out. Now, it was perfectly intact, with only a purple line running up the flesh to indicate that there had ever been a wound.

"The leg was reset. Of course, the bone fragment was sticking up out of the leg; I would have been able to see that had I walked in here by myself. Of course when I realized that, it may have been too late."

Sano quirked an eyebrow. Yagari was a powerful hunter; he had often been beside Kaien Cross, and only the strongest had ever hunted with that man. A Level E was nothing. Why on Earth would he say such a thing?

"I don't get it Touga. You've fought these things countless times before. Why do you think it would have had a chance to kill you?"

Yagari pointed over to the pile of gray dust lying in the center of the room.

"That thing moved much faster than any Level E I've ever seen. Not only that, it was stronger too. The force of your Zanbato hitting it across the back should have broken its spine, but instead it simply flew across the room. Also when I first began fighting, it caught the first bullet I fired. Had it been a normal Level E, it would not have been able to hold the bullet at all; the anti-vampire magic on that bullet would have burned its skin. There's something odd about this, and the sooner we can deal with our last vampire, and get to Kenshin and Kaoru the better."

"Do you want me to phone the morgue, and tell them we have a stolen body?"

Yagari nodded.

"That would probably be a good idea. Makimachi-"

Misao was still staring at the naked corpse, blinking a bit. Rolling his one eye, Yagari strode over, and yanked the sheet back up over the corpse. Misao blushed, and turned her head. Chuckling, Yagari walked back over to talk with her while Sano waited for the phone at the morgue to roll over to the answering machine.

"Anyway, I'm curious. Would you be so kind as to investigate the blood from the corpse? With the Y-incision looking as if it hasn't even been touched I have a pretty good hunch that the blood is fake as well."

Misao nodded and knelt down, sticking her finger in a sticky red pool on the floor. The tip of her finger came away dyed red. She lifted it to her nose and took a whiff, then opened her mouth and licked off the blood. As soon as her tongue touched the liquid on her finger, she grimaced, then spat it back out on the floor, wiping her finger off on her jeans.

"Gross, it's synthetic blood!"

Yagari glanced at Sano, who was busy putting his phone up. Good, she'd yelled at the right time. He and Sanosuke would have a hard time explaining what she had said if the answering machine had picked it up.

"I left a message for the guys at the county morgue. I told 'em we have here the body of Mako's brother Hisoka at the abandoned Sakaya Mansion, and asked him to call me back if he wanted any details."

"Yes but I'm fairly sure that the number of nearly every vampire hunter is registered on their caller id, so your phone should be empty of messages."

Sanosuke smirked.

"Shame."

With that, the three left to go after their last vampire.

* * *

Kaoru stood against a young oak tree, looking at Kenshin with concern as the smell of his blood wafted its way into her nostrils. Across the clearing, Jine sneered, and prepared to execute another attack. Kaoru cut him off by dashing into the clearing, and standing in front of Kenshin, weapon and fangs drawn.

"Don't even think about it! Take one step near Kenshin, and I'll have you cut in half!"

Glazed green eyes stared at her intently. Growling, she stood her ground. She would not run; she would stay and fight. No matter what, she would help Kenshin. A rough palm rested on her shoulder, and she whipped around, finding herself staring directly into Kenshin's eyes.

"Miss Kaoru don't. This is not your fight. Run now, please, or you'll get hurt. He means to kill you."

Kaoru nodded.

"I know that, but I'm not running."

"You fool!"

Kaoru smiled at him, and turned back to face Jine. He grinned.

"So, you're going to fight for him? Silly girl, you cannot defeat me."

"We'll see."

Jine laughed. Kaoru threw out her scythe. The silver crescent arced through the air, sparkling like a low moon. It was hit out of the air by Jine's sword, causing the path of Kaoru's weapon to go awry. She yanked it back, and jumped just as the pureblood brought his blade down in a crushing downward slash. Kenshin stepped back, hand tightening on his sword, ready to intervene just in case. He had no doubt in his mind that he would need to.

Kaoru twirled the scythe, looking for an opening. Her hand was on the small handle of the blade rather than the chain itself. Jine thrust forward, and she snaked to her right, slicing with her scythe. She couldn't help but smile as her weapon tasted blood. She brought her arm back to deliver yet another blow, when Jine swooped low, and knocked her feet out from under her. On the way down, she was flipped over on her back, and pinned to the ground. The point of Jine's sword hung just over her chest.

"Miss Kaoru!"

"Don't move Battousai! You can watch from here, as I unleash the first stage of the final act."

Kaoru struggled, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not break free. One hand was firmly planted on her shoulder, and both knees on her legs. Even if she was bold enough to get up, the sword point would have gone through her heart, killing her instantly.

"What do you mean Jine?"

Jine leered at the girl beneath him.

"Little girl. You know that each and every pureblood and aristocrat line on this Earth has one specialty. Yes, each family has one art of fighting they have taken and perfected, a style that they adopted, and soon molded."

She ground her teeth.

"Get to the point!"

"Shin no Ippo. This is my family's technique: An illusionary art that tricks the mind into believing the spell that has been cast upon it. These attacks range from various types of paralyzation to power restricting and everything in between."

Blue sparks flew in Jine's face as Kaoru glowered up at him.

"So… what? You'll paralyze me? Lock me in an illusionary world? Send my mind to the very edges of hell?"

"Oh no, a spell like that would be easy for you to break. I'm going to up the game a little bit. Let's see if you're willing to play, shall we?"

A sharp bolt of pain seared through her body, lighting every single cell aflame with agony. An animal shriek flew past her lips as she bucked, sending the sword point deeper through her shoulder. Droplets of deep crimson flecked on her cheek and neck as the metal fang was yanked back out of her body. Kaoru lay crumpled on the ground, white-knuckling the vertical hole Jine had left in her shoulder. He grinned, green eyes flashing red, and all at once her entire body felt as if liquid fire had been shot into her veins. Her eyes flew wide open as she gasped, grinding her teeth to keep from screaming.

"Miss Kaoru! Jine, what the hell did you do to Miss Kaoru you bastard!"

The pureblood did not face him; instead he smiled as he admired his handiwork.

"It is one of the more abnormal attacks derived from the Shin no Ippo technique: Fang of the Kurohebi. The user amasses their energy in the blade, and releases it into the target's body by stabbing them. This energy release feels strikingly similar to being bitten by a poisonous snake. This girl has five minutes before she is devoured from the inside out."

Fangs flashed in the moonlight. A low vibration bubbled in Jine's chest, peaking into insane gales of laughter while in the ground Kaoru writhed in pain. Jine turned back from the girl to his opponent.

"Now, you and I know we don't have all night if you want to save her. There are two ways for this spell to be broken. One: The target must overcome it themselves. If the target is a vampire, this is only possible if they are of superior strength. I am a pureblood, and she an aristocrat. It is utterly impossible. Second,"

Jine grinned.

"The caster of the Shin no Ippo must be killed."

Kenshin glowered at the beast before him. This man… this _thing _was a pureblood vampire by birth, but a monster underneath. It did not deserve pity. Motion on the grass caught his attention as Kaoru rolled over, face pale and contorted with pain. He would pay. That bloodless bastard would finger bones groaned as he white knuckled the hilt of his sword. One word slipped from his lips. One venom laced, hate filled word.

"Jine."

We don't have much time to be simply enjoying the moonlight. If you want to save that girl, you're going to have to do it using your sword."

Kenshin was facing the ground, his body entire body tensed up, muscles coiling together like individual snakes. He vanished from sight. Jine had time for only a split second of shock until Kenshin's sword smacked him full force on the bridge of the nose, the hunter landing a few feet behind him. Scarlet blood flung itself into the ground as Jine took a few seconds to recover.

That attack! He hadn't been able to even distinguish the path of the sword, nor see his opponent's body follow through with it! So _this _was the power of the legendary vampire killer that had put many a monster in their grave.

"So…you've finally returned? Brilliant! This is where it's going to get fun!"

He hissed, setting his nose back into place. Amber eyes burned brightly in the dark, searing him straight to the bone. Ebon rage on his face offset the brightness of his eyes as Kenshin's teeth were bared in a feral snarl.

"As you said earlier, we can't stand around enjoying the moonlight. Please come and prepare to die.'

Moonlight glittered in the pureblood's eyes, making them flash red for a brief moment.

"No, it's not over. Not yet."

He brought his sword up, and set it horizontal to his body. Like a captured slice of moon, the sword gleamed, bright red stars shone on the tip. Reflected on the metal surface was the face of the vampire. No sane or rational thought was depicted flowing across his face. No life visible in his eyes. How quaint.

"I will now use the Shin No Ippo to induce an illusion upon myself, maximizing my capabilities. Watch Battousai, your defeat looms nigh."

Jine sneered at his reflection. Kenshin's hair began to stand on end as he sensed a powerful aura building within the vampire's body. Flesh creaked as the man's muscles expanded, his body tingled as everything; smell, hearing, and sight was maximized. The semi-dark forest became as bright as noonday. Kenshin's entire body lit up red as every vein beneath the hunter's skin became visible. It almost made him look as if he had been sewn together on the inside. Jine ground his teeth.

"I am invincible! I am undefeatable!"*

The discharged power diminished, and Jine's eyes glowed with blood lust.

"I…am the strongest ever."

New found power flowed in his body, making the cells vibrate. His mind hummed. He could feel every electric current in the air. The signals Battousai was sending out could power a whole city block. Kenshin huffed, clearly not amused.

"Go ahead and use whichever tricks you please. However, when I say you're going to die,"

The sword hissed as it slid back in the sheath, almost as if it was angry at Kenshin for placing it so; or eager at what was next to come.

"You have no choice, but to obey."

His knees were bent; he had one hand on the hilt if his sword, while the other stood poised, ready to draw the sword from the sheath. Battojustu.

It was a move that had cost many a vampire its life. By sheathing the blade, and taking that stance, Kenshin had maximized the speed at which he could unsheathe his blade. The speed at which Kenshin could unsheathe his blade matched that of the gods.

_Wait. The Battojutsu are one shot attacks. Once executed, their user is left completely vulnerable afterwards. The only thing I have to do is dodge the blade the minute he pulls it from the sheath, but can I?_

His eyes scrutinized the blade, and the man wielding it, looking for any sign of weakness. A tiny bit of silver poked out from the sheath, like a deadly secret. The sliver of sword seemed to mock him, but upon closer inspection, it was all bluff. The sword was a reverse-blade. The unsheathing would be slowed a small fraction. If he evaded the blade, he could kill the hunter in one stroke.

Kenshin narrowed his eyes. Twin specks of gold shone in the dark like cat's eyes.

"Come vampire. I'll give to a little insight as to why I'm called Battousai."

Silence. Not a single thing moved. Ten feet away, Kaoru watched through clouded vision. The place where Jine had stabbed was covered in a sickly purple-black color. It spread out, and was now slowly crawling up the base of her neck. Her chest burned every time she took a breath; her body was numb.

K-Kenshin…don't…"

What she managed to choke out strained her vocal chords. The scent of blood was sharp in her nose, making her throat itch as of there were a large number of insect crawling around in it. Kaoru curled her body tighter as another wave of pain ripped through her body. She wanted this to be over.

_Kenshin…_

Hunter and hunted stared at each other. Green met amber. Snarl met sneer. Then, in a flash of movement, Jine rushed forward, too quick for any untrained eye to follow. In a blur of silver, Kenshin unsheathed the sword. With agility given only to vampires, Jine leapt back, narrowly avoiding the swipe supposed to crush his skull. Kenshin's arm hung for a second, and that was all he needed. Using the momentum from his jump back, Jine brought his arm up, preparing to sweep down. There was no way for Kenshin to dodge in time.

"I've won Battous-"

The rest of Jine's victory shout was devoured in a cry of rage and pain as the sheath came smashing into his sword arm. Jine fell to the ground, cradling the wounded limb. The vampire hunter had attacked using both the sword, and the sheath. A double Battojutsu.

"Double Battojustu Doryusen. I am well aware that my reverse blade sword is not suitable for this technique. The name Battousai comes from the fact that I have perfected everything in Battojutsu*. Your arm has been crushed, and the ligaments torn. Your life with a sword ends now Jine."

He brought his arm up, holding the sword aloft. Against the ivory of the moon, the sword gleamed a tiny thin line. There was an ominous metallic ringing as the sword turned over. The cutting edge glittered in the night.

" And so does your life as a vampire."

A cold breeze blew through the forest clearing, stirring up a few stray leaves. Off in the distance was the single hoarse cry of a raven. A thick, dark cloud passed over the moon, urged along by a stronger wind higher up in the sky. When it had drifted on, Kenshin still stood, sword raised high in the air. Jine watched him, measuring the expression in the younger man's face.

"Well? Aren't you going to kill me? That's the only way to free the girl."

Kenshin ground his teeth in fury. His arm shook.

"To free and protect Miss Kaoru…I will become a killer once again!"

Green flashed red, as Jine's fangs leered in a poisonous grin.

"Perfect Battousai! Send me to hell with the satisfaction that I was the first to have your reborn blade pierce my flesh!"

"Die vampire filth."

The blade swung down.

Kaoru watched all of this, eyes growing wider, and wider in shock and horror. No, Kenshin was not a killer. He couldn't be! Vampire hunters slew only to protect the people! The look in Kenshin's eyes was one of mad fury and delight was he brought the blade down, attempting to pierce Jine's skull. A vampire hunter killed vampires, but they did not give into the madness of killing. They were not that which they hunted.

Hot, wet tears streamed down Kaoru's face at the thought of losing him forever to the madness of murder. Her mind whirled around a single point.

_Kenshin….Kenshin…please…_

Summoning all her strength and willpower, Kaoru fought the spell. Her body burned but she kept fighting. This was for Kenshin. She would never, ever let him go. Not ever!

"Kenshin stop!"

Kenshin froze, the cutting edge just bare centimeters from Jine's head. He whipped around to look at her.

"Miss Kaoru…"

Jine turned his head, glaring at the brat who'd dared to interrupt. Kaoru rose shakily to her feet. The ugly black color that had spread on her skin was gone. Her forehead gleamed with sweat, and her chest heaved as she panted heavily.

"Kenshin… you mustn't kill him…hunters don't…murder…they are not…that which they kill…"

The aristocrat tumbled to the ground, her body out of the strength to supply her with so she could stand. Kenshin's arms were around her before her body met the ground. Her body lay in his arms, so limp; nearly lifeless. It felt as if he was holding a life-size doll instead of a real person.

"Miss Kaoru! Hold on, you've got to hold on!"

She didn't lift her head, but meekly replied;

"I've…got to…hold on."

Her voice was weak, but it was there. That alone was enough. She would make it.

"You're going to be alright, you'll see."

"Alright…yes."

"She raised her head up, and smiled at him. All traces of fatigue were gone as her sapphire eyes sparkled at him. Kaoru sat in a more upright position.

"I'm okay now Kenshin. So there's no need to worry. I'm fine."

"Good. Now we can-"

Metal teeth clinked behind them. Kenshin tensed. Jine stood, fangs bared, glaring down at the pair, short sword drawn, ready for the kill.

"My Shin no Ippo. Beaten by a mere girl like her. I must be losing my touch."

His voice was low, his words laden down with the threat of murder. The pureblood, framed by moonlight, looked like some insane monument. The only things that moved were his eyes, flicking back and forth between Kenshin and Kaoru.

"No Jine, that's enough. You have no chance at winning; not with a mere short sword and your left arm. Admit it, you've lost."

"No, not yet. There is still one more thing,"

Jine brought the sword up, Kenshin reached for his. If Jine intended to continue fighting, Kenshin would gladly oblige. After all, the man was beaten.

"That I must do!"

The short sword swung down, Kenshin turned, weapon up, and ready.

To block an attack that never came.

The blade plunged deep into Jine's chest, piercing his heart. Blood spurted from the wound, dyeing the green leaves red. The drops scattered, as if shocked such a thing could happen. Kaoru and Kenshin stared as the vampire stood upright for a few seconds, then fell back, onto his own sword. A miniature fountain gushed, tasting the steel that had so unkindly cut into the body.

"What a nice feeling…"

He lay sprawled out on the ground. Deformed red wings seeped out of his body. All Kenshin and Kaoru could do was stare. Jine chuckled. A pinkish red line ran from his mouth as blood mixed with saliva.

"Don't look at me like that. You looked a lot better…when you said…you were going to kill me."

Jine coughed, the sword twitched, but stayed put, determined to finish the job.

"You say that you a hunter that never sheds blood…but you and I both know that is a lie. You have the blood of a vampire slayer running through every fiber of your body. I…slew countless as well so I know of what I speak. You…can never be anything else… I'll be watching you…to see how long…you can keep wearing that mask…of a saint…"

He coughed, and hacked a few more times, then heaved in a large breath. It released itself in a slow, rattling gust. Udo Jine was no more. Kenshin looked at the body of the man, those glazed eyes seemed to be staring at him. At the feet his body was already turning to dust. Tiny, white crystals floated up from the corpse. Kenshin let Jine's last words ring through his head.

_You have the blood of a vampire slayer running through every fiber of your body. You can never be anything else._

_

* * *

_

**Phew! Done, and done. Sixteen pages. I really need to cut down on that. Anyway, comments and reviews are welcome.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Good day readers, I have good news: I have a computer once again! Now I can update my fics! Happy, happy day! Oh, and for those of you who were wondering what those asterisks were doing by some of the dialogue in the last chapter, those were quotes taken from the actual episode. In that most recent chapter, I wanted the latter portion to follow the episode as closely as possible; at least as far as the fanfic allowed. No, I don't own **_**Rurouni Kenshin Episode Seven.**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, or Rurouni Kenshin.**

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* * *

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_You have the blood of a vampire slayer running through every fiber of your body. You can be nothing else._

Kenshin continued to stare down at the pile of dust whose body had spoken those final words to him. Was it possible that that was all he was? For the past few years, he had had himself believe that he could heal. Another cool breeze glided through the woods, caressing his face with the chill of death.

"Kenshin? Are you okay?"

Kaoru. He turned to look at her; her eyes had brightened some, although it was hard to tell if she was pale from her ordeal, or simply pale from being a vampire. Curiosity made her eyes sparkle in the dark, adding to the natural sparkle in them. She had nearly died just to save him; he still wasn't quite sure how he felt about that.

"We'll leave this here. Is there a possibility that the remains will be discovered by a member of your Senate?"

Kaoru shook her head. In order for word to get out, she would have to say something to Kaname, and she would never do that. Besides, Jine had killed himself; there was nothing either of them could have done, and there was nothing that was going to be done to them. She hoped. A calloused hand laid itself on her shoulder, turning her away from the pile of dust run through with a sword.

"Let's go. There's no reason for us to stay."

Nodding, she turned her back on the clearing and followed the vampire hunter into the shadows of the night.

* * *

His feet made next to no sound as he treaded on the marble floor of the old library. Unlike Misao, Sanosuke's eyes were not well accustomed to the dark, and the shadows stretched far into back corners. Yagari and Misao trailed far behind him in the far most darkness; if he looked back, he could see Makimachi's green eyes glittering occasionally. The back door of the library was only a few feet ahead; about sixty or so more paces and he would be out and into the gardens.

Silence devoured the dark room. Bookshelves stood on either side of him like solid sentries; the books they held seemed to whisper to him, the gold lettering of the titles sparkled in the dark. A wooden ghost stood before him, sturdy enough to stand all these years since the library had been built, but not strong enough to stand against him. It was swept aside to reveal the expanse of gray and green behind the aging building. Hedges had been trimmed into a semi-maze pattern, and gray lines of sidewalk snaked in between. Sano looked behind him, Yagari and Misao stood two feet back and nodded. After they had departed Sakaya Mansion, it had been decided that Sano would go in first, Misao and Yagari would split, flanking both left and right. It would be a sortie: Sano from the front, Misao from the left and Yagari from the right.

Moonlight trailed silver on the hunter's face as he stepped out into the night. The landscape was trapped by a metal hourglass of fence. Nothing moved, not even time; however, near the far back, a small cry broke the stillness.

"Hello? Anyone there? Please…I don't care who it is, but someone help!"

It definitely sounded like Yahiko. Impulsively, his right hand flew up to grasp the handle of his Zanbato. Yagari spoke:

"Sano, that's not your brother."

Sano sighed, berating himself for being so stupid. Behind the two men, Misao stood readying her weapons. When all was finished, she tapped Yagari on the shoulder.

"I'm ready."

"Good. Let's go."

* * *

Fallen leaves crunched under their feet as they continued on in silence. Off in the distance a night bird cried out; a mouse scampered through the underbrush. Down here on the forest floor, barely any moonlight was visible. Luckily Kenshin was used to walking in the dark, so it didn't prove much of an obstacle for him. In his throat he could taste bile; he hadn't been the one to kill, but Jine committing suicide didn't make him feel any better either.

Kaoru strode beside him, glancing at the red head occasionally. Ever since they had exited the clearing, he had said nothing. Not only that, something kept eating at her. She had been taught about the war that had been fought between humans and vampires throughout the shadows of history, and the name Battousai had definitely come up more than once. Her teachings had depicted him as a ruthless, cold hearted killer, sword forever tainted with the blood of vampires. He was one of the few humans that had actually been feared by her kind. Jine had called Kenshin Battousai countless times during their fight. As far as Kaoru knew, Kenshin was kind, quiet, and protective. Surely he couldn't have been the horrid murderer whose name would forever be hated by every vampire that lived?

This was killing her. She had to speak up.

"Hey Kenshin?"

He turned to her. Honest eyes of violet, not venomous ones of amber stared into her own.

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

"May I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

White fangs poked at scarlet lips. The words were stuck on her tongue; she didn't want to ask him, but at the same time she did. Above them an owl flew against the moon, its tawny brown feathers became completely black as its silhouette passed over the face of the full moon. They stopped walking; everything became silent. The world stood waiting.

Why was it so hard for her to gather her courage? Kaoru took a deep breath, and spoke.

"During your battle, Jine kept calling you Battousai. Was that…really you?"

For a second, Kenshin didn't move. Then he turned his face forward, and closed his eyes. A faint smile touched his lips.

"Yes. I am the one they call Battousai."

He opened his eyes, but he wasn't looking at her; he wasn't looking at anything really. The vibrant color in his eyes had dulled as his mind rewound down that less traveled memory lane. His hand strayed to his sword. Kaoru flinched. Human teeth peeked out of the confines of a cold smile.

"You're afraid of me, aren't you?"

Afraid? No of course she wasn't…or was she? True, she did feel suspicious of him, just a little bit; and perhaps a bit of shock at this sudden revelation…but fear? Kenshin had protected her, saved her from certain death. That didn't warrant fear.

"No. I'm not afraid."

The man beside her did not move. Silent, and locked within himself, he merely stared off into the distance. She walked forward, and put her hand on his shoulder. Her long slender fingers wrapped themselves firmly around his flesh as she gave a reassuring squeeze. The pressure brought him around. She stared at him, directly into him.

"I mean that Kenshin. In no way am I afraid. I shouldn't be afraid, no matter whom you were. It has nothing to do with who you are now. You saved my life, you protected my future. To me that's more important than the past. "

Her hand fell from his shoulder as he shrugged it off, and stared deeply back into her own eyes.

"The past shapes you into who you become in the future, who you are in the present; do you not mind having me so close? When thousands of your kind have died by me? Why do you want me by your side?"

"If what you say is true, then don't you think you would have stayed the way you were then? I don't know what happened to change you, but don't you think it happened for a reason? Look back on yourself. If you feel any regret, then it shows that your past does not have such a hold on you as you say it does. I believe you can change. I believe you have changed."

They stared at each other, equal parts of light and shadow, human and monster. They faced each other in the dark, their wills battling that of the other. Kaoru's gaze hardened with determination.

"That is why I want you by my side. Besides, I feel I haven't gotten to know you enough. Not only that, but if I do decide you haven't changed the first rule of battle is 'Know thy enemy' right? So how could I take you down if I knew nothing about you?"

The meaning behind her words hit him head on: She trusted him. She trusted him completely, no questions asked. The pure, innocent trust she had just placed in his hands made his heart feel somewhat lighter. It felt good that this young vampire girl was willing to brush everything aside for him. Tiny threads of warmth curled themselves up within his chest.

"Perhaps. But know this Miss Kaoru: Don't take me lightly. I've still got a lot of living that I want to do yet, so taking me down may not be as easy as you think."

Kaoru giggled.

"Of course."

They continued on at a more brisk pace than before. What Kaoru had told him earlier had made him feel better. She wasn't like any other vampire he'd met. If anything, she was closer to a human than even he was. Inside her, Kaoru carried a light that he had long since forgotten how to seek. He smiled.

_Jine, what you say may be true. Yes I was a vampire slayer once, but as long as she is beside me, I can remain a simple hunter._

* * *

The soft sound of a bubbling water fountain reached his ears as he came closer to the very back of the gardens. Wispy clouds of light gray passed over the moon, turning to iridescent silver. All around him was the nostalgic scent of lilacs, their buds closed up for the night. In the glow of the moon the flowers looked like a clinging purple mist, sparkling occasionally when a dew drop glided across a petal.

Since that cry from in this area, Sanosuke had heard nothing else. _It knows I'm coming. _Green and lavender disappeared from view as he rounded a corner, being replaced by silver, white…and the form of a child. It sat at the base of a large water fountain, which spewed water upward in a geyser that came down forming a veil. The child form sat at the fountain's base, completely at ease with its surroundings. From where he stood, partially covered by the lilac bushes, he could see it was a boy around his brother's age. Sano smirked. _Looks pretty calm for someone who's been kidnapped. _He watched the boy's shoulder's raise themselves up, then lower back down as he let out a sigh. When the voice of the imposter reached his ears he was shocked.

"Gah, this is _so_ boring. When in the hell is that Sanosuke guy gonna get here so I can tear his head off?"

The voice sounded identical to Yahiko. _Creepy. _Sano thought. Oh well, enough of this charade. Sanosuke stepped out from the cover of the bush, and into the full view of the vampire masquerading as his brother. Upon seeing him, the boy leapt up, a golden glow of elation spreading across his features. By now Sanosuke was close enough to observe that not only did the boy sound like Yahiko, he also looked like him as well.

"Big brother! You're here!"

The boy wrapped his slender arms around him, squeezing tightly. Sano could feel the raw, repulsive strength of the vampire in those arms. He wanted to shove this horrid thing off him, and kill it. However, he decided to play along. He ruffled his hand in the vampire boy's spiky black hair.

"Yahiko. Thank God you're safe, but…"

Sano looked around, pretending to be confused.

"What on Earth are you doing out here all alone? Where's Kurogasa?"

The boy grinned, looking proud.

"Oh, I took care of 'im! He wasn't as powerful as he made himself out to be; just a quick crack on the head with my hawthorn sword, and he was out cold. He's over there in that thicket."

A slender finger pointed to an adjacent copse of bushes. If he looked hard enough, he could see the dim outline of someone lying unconscious on the ground. A victim? Or another stolen body? Sanosuke decided to quit the kid's game, and start with one of his own.

"Your hawthorn sword huh? That's odd, because when I dropped you off at the Izuma's place, I slipped a couple of daggers into your coat pocket. That sword is just too big to hide."

The look in the boy's eyes faltered. He let go of Sano, and stood back a few feet. Was he preparing to attack?

"W-well, you see while Kurogasa was killing the occupants of the house, I fled back to our place, unlocked the door, and got my sword. I barely had enough time to hide it in my jacket as Kurogasa had been pursuing me. Next thing I knew, I woke up here."

"So, not only were you able to knock out a pureblood, something that none of those above you can do, but you managed to outrun him for over five miles? The Izumas live on the other side of town Yahiko, you know that."

Brown became red; fangs protruded from the boy's lips.

"You're an annoyingly perceptive bastard, you know that?"

Sano smirked and grabbed his Zanbato, pointing it towards his target.

"For someone who looks a hell of a lot like my brother, you sure don't know much brat. But not to worry, I'll carve some nice little memories into that arrogant skull of yours!"

He charged and swung. Sparks flew from the blade as it collided with the edge of the fountain. The sound of feet hitting the pavement made the hunter whip around. The boy turned back, grinning. A small cut on his cheek trailed blood.

"Heh, you're pretty fast, I'll have to watch it around you."

This kid had cleanly dodged a blow that would have done in a lesser vampire. Had he recently become a former human or was he of higher rank? Sanosuke didn't have much time to think for the child dove in, slashing with wicked six inch talons. Tensing his legs, Sano leap to the side. Rock and cement were ripped apart as four deep gashes rent themselves into the fountain base and the sidewalk.

The boy turned to make another attack; this time Sanosuke stood his ground, and met his target head on. There was a flash of purple light, and the sound of an unearthly screech as the blade of the Zanbato came down on the vampire's shoulder. A splash of bright crimson flew upward from the wound, filling the night air with the coppery tang of blood.

The vampire snarled, and fell to his knees, clasping the heavily bleeding shoulder wound. Angry red eyes glared up at the hunter who had dared strike him so.

"D-Damn you… I guess they were right though, there's no way I could hope to take you. Not the way you are now at least."

He looked back over towards the thicket where the unconscious body lay. Behind the bushes the human shape jerked and shuddered as it began to rise. The boy grinned.

"About time you're awake! I thought I was going to have to take care of him by myself!"

Out of the bushes emerged a Level E. Its bloodshot eyes scanned the area until they fell on the human standing some ten or more feet in front of it. Its upper body heaved as it drew in deep, heady breaths. Saliva dripped down its fangs and onto the ground, making tiny crystalline puddles of drool. Sanosuke brought his Zanbato down, aiming the point directly at the monster's heart. The Level E's face split from ear to ear as teeth devoured the lower half of its face. It leered at Sanosuke; one word was spoken.

"Blood…"

It took a few shambling steps. The boy, once again, leapt high into the air, this time landing directly on top of the fountain.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Slash his arms off so I can take his ugly head!"

Sick giggles welled up from the bosom of the creature. Sanosuke thought he would go mad if he listened to it much longer; the screams of dying children would have been a much more welcome chorus. The weight of the Zanbato was reassuring as he clenched his hands around the handle. The Level E charged.

Only to be shot in the head.

Tendrils of blood spurted out of the quarter size hole in the middle of the Level E's forehead. Its eyes glazed over and rolled back in its head. One minute later it was nothing but dust.

"Shame, it looks like I didn't need your assistance after all."

Both human and vampire turned as Yagari strode into the battlefield re-holstering his gun. A rustling in another patch of bushes was heard as Misao popped up, putting away weapons and looking quite perturbed.

"Yeah, well you're lucky I was the one who spotted it. Who knows what would have become of Rooster Head here."

The weight of Sano's weapon shifted as he re-holstered it on his back. He smiled at the two.

"How did you two know it was a Level E?"

Misao rolled her eyes.

"Wasn't it obvious? The aura it was giving off certainly didn't feel human. All I had to do was give Yagari-sensei the signal, we were both watching the two of you by the way, and he shot; simple as that."

Meanwhile, the boy had jumped down from his perch. Fear shone in his eyes, darkening them as he looked at Misao.

"You're an aristocrat, that's impossible! They told me I would only be dealing with that human over there."

The human in question rolled his eyes; however, one question kept circulating in his mind: Who were the mysterious 'They' the boy kept referring to? Misao snorted.

"Yeah, and I didn't think I'd be dealing with a Common Vampire either. Mind telling me what's going on?"

A Common Vampire? Damn it, that meant they couldn't kill the kid and walk away! The boy glowered, grinding his teeth in fury.

"As if I'd ever tell you anything!"

"Then you leave us in a bit of a bind. See, we can't kill you, but we can't let you walk away now either."

Yagari said. He had taken a cigarette from his pack, and had begun smoking it. The tiny light on the tip dimmed as the older hunter inhaled the nicotine rich smoke, blowing it back out into the night air. His single eye rolled from the vampire over to Sanosuke.

"Sagara? Care to do the honors?"

Without so much as a word, Sanosuke quickly appeared behind the boy, only to whack him hard on the back the head. He went down quickly and quietly, allowing Sano enough time to crack a few knuckles in between the blow and the collapse. Misao cocked her head at her human companions. Okay, she could see leaving him alive; the Senate would have come down on the hunter's heads. Hers too for that matter; she would either be executed or imprisoned for being an accessory to an unnecessary murder.

"Why'd you knock him out?"

Sanosuke shook his head as he picked up the comatose vampire, and flung it over his shoulder, all the while smiling.

"You really are stupid huh?"

"What? You jerk! You think you're so cool what with your huge sword, but I could kill you with a single flick of my-"

"Cut it out Makimachi."

She glared at Yagari for rudely cutting her off in the midst of her ranting. The elder hunter returned her glare with a level look of experience.

"He's no use to us dead, merely a burden. You know that as well as we do. However, it's an even bigger nuisance if he gets away. So that solution is simple: We knock him out, and then take him back to Headquarters for questioning. The lucky thing about our charge being a Common Vampire is that know one is going to come looking for him."

They could hope. True, the Senate mostly kept tabs on the purebloods and aristocrats within its ranks, but it was also the highest governing body of the vampire world. It was impossible to gauge just how far the reach extended. Sanosuke stepped forward, rejoining their trio.

"Now, what say we go find Kenshin and Missy?"

Misao glanced at the limp body slung over his shoulder. The spiky haired man noticed this and chuckled.

"Don't worry Weasel Girl; I hit him pretty hard. He's going to stay asleep for a long time."

* * *

Familiar scents of pavement, concrete, and people assailed Kaoru's nostrils as she and Kenshin made their first steps back into town. The two of them were currently situated on the east edge; the area where she had left Misao, Yagari, and Sanosuke behind had been in the south-central end of town.

Their footsteps echoed through the sleeping end of town. From the corner of her eye, Kaoru noticed a stray cat scamper into an alleyway.

"So where do you plan on meeting up with everyone else Miss Kaoru?"

Kaoru tipped her head to the side and put a finger on her chin.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. I guess the best course of action would be to wait for the others at the spot where I split off from them."

"And where is that?"

"Near the old Sakaya mansion."

Kenshin nodded. Overhead the soft, yellow light of the street lamps made small circles of light on the sidewalk, none of which overlapped, but rather barely touched one another. They cut through an alley to save time. When they had emerged from the urban corridor the stale scent of baking bread met Kaoru's nose. Minawa Bakery. Ten more minutes, and she and Kenshin would be near the abandoned Sakaya Mansion.

Pale moonlight in the sky mixed with pale lamplight on the ground to give the town a dreamy glow. The hunter and the vampire strolled side by side through the darkened, sleepy street, passing various shops. When their feet took them by the abandoned Sakaya Mansion, they stopped and looked at the decomposing structure.

A couple shutters on a window on the second story were barely hanging on, the door had completely fallen off; it laid by the yawning opening, as if exhausted after hanging on for so long. Various other windows were boarded up or simply left to stare blankly out at the surrounding area. If Kaoru looked hard enough, she could see thin strands of a spider's web blowing in the gentle breeze; the spider was nowhere in sight. Maybe it too had abandoned its home. However, it was not the appearance of the ancient building that the two of them were noticing, but the feeling emanating from it: The mansion seemed alive. Cold breezes wafted out of the doorway, and onto their skin, almost as if it was breathing. From beyond the permanently open door something seemed to be watching them, studying them.

"Do you feel that Kenshin?"

She didn't turn from the house; neither did he.

"Yes I do."

He started walking again, watching the mansion out of the corner of his eye.

"Come on Miss Kaoru. We need to meet up with Sano, Yagari, and Miss Misao. We don't want them to think we just up and disappeared now do we?"

Kaoru nodded, and trotted to catch up with him. When they had passed by the tailor shop, the shouting of Sanosuke caught their attention.

"Kenshin! Kaoru! Hey!"

Walking behind him were Yagari and Misao. Smiles brightened the faces of each party as both groups ran to meet each other. Misao wrapped Kaoru in a tight hug upon seeing her friend.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe, I was so worried!"

Kaoru smiled while trying to wriggle out of her friend's vise-like grip; it was starting to aggravate her shoulder wound.

"Don't worry Misao, I'm fine."

Minor hints of pain in the girl's voice struck Misao as she instantly let go, and stepped back, examining her friend from head to toe.

"You're hurt! Show me where, maybe we can do something about it."

"I'm fine. It's starting to heal already, see?"

It was true. As Kaoru pulled back the collar of her shirt, the stab wound inflicted by Jine was already staring to close. By sun up the wound would be closed. Misao sighed in relief. Done with watching the reunion, the hunters turned back to each other. Yagari took notice of the wounds on Kenshin's body.

"It seems you are hurt too, my friend."

Kenshin chuckled.

It's merely a couple scratches, nothing more."

He looked up at his two friends. It was then he noticed the boy slung over Sanosuke's shoulder. Was that Yahiko? If so, why was he unconscious? From what Kenshin could see, the boy had received a sharp blow to the head. Sano caught this and grinned.

"I know what you're thinking Kenshin. This kid here isn't Yahiko no matter how much he may look or sound like him; just a simple Common Vampire."

As if things couldn't get any odder. It could have been worse though Kaoru realized as she looked at the people gathered around her. At least one of them, mainly her could have died tonight.

"So what are you guys going to do with him?"

"We'll take him back to Headquarters, and keep him in the dungeon for questioning. In the meantime you two should probably head back to Cross Academy. The sun's going to be up in approximately one hour."

Crap Sanosuke was right! If she and Misao didn't high-tail it back now, they could be caught ditching campus! Just how much time had slipped from them? It didn't matter. The five said their goodbyes, and as each species turned to part ways, Kaoru stopped.

"Um… Kenshin?"

He turned back to her.

"Yes Miss Kaoru?"

`Light hues of pink began to show on her face, while her toe focused itself on making a rut in the ground.

"Thank you for saving me. I…wanted to tell you that at least…"

A warm smile, full of compassion shone from his face.

"Actually I should be thanking you Miss Kaoru."

"Thanking me? What do you-"

"Kenshin! C'mon we don't have all night!"

"Hurry up Kaoru! We don't want to get suspended!"

The two of them chuckled and turned back to face the other. Kaoru was still blushing furiously; her entire face was now going from pink to red. Kenshin studied her. What was this effect she was having on him? When she had accosted him about him being Battousai, he had been overcome with grief at the thought of her leaving him behind. It was odd; she was a vampire and he a human, yet he cared for her. What was she to him? Oh well, it wasn't important right now. She was alive and well; that was.

"Don't worry about it Miss Kaoru, but still thank you. Thank you very much."

"Oh…okay. Um…I'll see you later then."

Kaoru waved, then turned and began running to catch up with Misao. Her superior speed was already baring her away at a faster pace than Kenshin could hope to follow as he watched her fade into the distance. What was she to him?

* * *

He turned away from the window, floorboards creaking under his feet as he went. This place would not stand for much longer; it would last twenty more years at best. Takeda Kanryu fiddled with his tie as he walked to the far back of the room. Damn dust. This suit would need a good washing when this meeting was over. However, Kanryu could see why this place had been picked for their discussion: it was quiet, a little bit out of the way, and so intimidating no one would think of coming in the dead of night.

The story of the house was that in the early 1900's the master of the house had gone insane and hung himself; but not before he had killed and partially eaten a good number of the occupants inside. Sakaya was rumored to still be haunted by the dead man's ghost. It was superstitious nonsense; there were no ghosts here. Only rats, spiders, and decaying wood.

"Well Kanryu? What's the latest news for our ending of Phase One?"

Up ahead, in a high backed, plush red chair sat the brains of the operation. His face was covered by a hood so no features were discernable. The aura of the man before him was overwhelming; Kanryu could see as to why Himura and the girl had been so taken back when they had passed on front of the mansion. The poisonous energy of the vampire before him pervaded into the entire building and the surrounding area. There was a significant temperature difference in this room alone.

"All five have survived sir. Himura-san survived the battle just as you expected."

The figure in the chair sat back and leaned the left side of his face against the back of his hand.

"And what of Udo Jine?"

"I can no longer sense his presence. He took his own life just as you ordered."

"I see. What happened to our Common Vampire?"

"He has been captured by them, and I assume the Level E we sent along with him has been disposed of. This was unexpected. What course of action would you like me to take?"

No response from the vampire resting comfortably before him. A cold silence stretched between the two, pulling itself tighter and tighter until it snapped and the man spoke.

"No course of action. This turn of events was unexpected by you Kanryu, not by me. I knew there was no way possible for that boy to successfully escape even if he had faced Sagara alone. By the way,"

Red eyes gleamed from beneath the hood.

"Just how much of the events did you watch?"

"Everything sir. Every detail that I could ever note I have. If I may ask, what was the point of those letters you had Jine deliver?"

A low laugh rumbled in the man's bosom, making Kanryu's chest vibrate.

"At first I only wanted to confront Battousai, but now I see all of them are worthy of my time and effort."

He rose from the chair and walked up to Kanryu, taking one small step past him so that the man's mouth was perfectly level with Kanryu's ear.

"What are you going to do about Jine's death?"

"I will provide a cover-up. The Common Vampire will not have to be dealt with. In our eyes he is worthless."

"Good."

The sound of footsteps resumed as the man walked out of the room. He stopped in the doorway, and turned to look at Kanryu, who had not moved. He smiled. What lovely accessories he was picking up.

"Keep up the good work Kanryu. Your shift starts tomorrow."

With that, he vanished into the remaining night. Phase One was over. Kanryu pushed his glasses further up his nose. The lenses reflected the moonlight bathing the room in pale silver. _You did well Jine. Now, it's my turn. _

_

* * *

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**Finally! Yeesh, I never thought I'd make it here. Favorite, review, do whatever you wish readers. Don't worry though; I assure you there will be no computer crashing this time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Guten Tag readers! Wie gehts? (How is it going?) Sorry about the German, I'm listening to Rammstein as I write this. Jine's part is finally over, and let me tell you, I did not expect it to take ten chapters. This little chapter hump will, hopefully, be smaller. **

**Anyway, let's get on with the story!**

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* * *

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Dead; everyone around him was dead. The acrid stench of many bodies threatened to pull him over into the dark abyss lying in wait. If he listened hard enough, he could hear their screams, some long and piercing, others choked by a hand or knife, and the rest virtually silent, taken before they had ever had a chance to raise an alarm. Too many of the latter number surrounded him. A sad fate carried to the gateway of the other world, killed before you ever saw your murderer's face. In front of him, laying outstretched like a sacrifice lay the body of a young man, silent from here on out. His closed eyes and lips revealed no secrets as the soul was permanently out to lunch. He sighed as he stared down at the corpse.

There were days Sanosuke really hated being at the county morgue.

So far, he had been standing in the autopsy room, beside a fresh corpse, waiting for the medical examiner to return for about ten minutes now. Normally ten minutes would seem like the blink of an eye to the laid back young man, but being surrounded by dead people was starting to creep him out. Seriously, how did Nakamura manage it? Furthermore, who would choose this as a profession? What kind of kid ran up to his parents, telling either mommy or daddy in the giddy childlike manner that they wanted to cut open and cross examine bodies? _'But I have to say, _Sanosuke thought as he took a glance around the room, _'Autopsies do make things a little smoother.' _

On the other side of the room the door opened, and in stepped medical examiner for the county morgue, Juto Nakamura. The man strode into the room, shutting the door behind him. Light from overhead glinted off his glasses, masking his eyes for a brief moment. When he turned to face the hunter, the man was all smiles. Why shouldn't he have been? After twenty tireless years of working with the dead, he had come to know nearly every vampire hunter inside the Hunter's Council; if he had to make a rough estimate, Nakamura would have said at least five or six out of every ten bodies he had were victims of Level E attacks. Nakamura clasped Sanosuke's hand in a firm shake.

"Good afternoon Sagara. I assume by you showing up here, that it means you received my call?"

Sano nodded. The minute after he'd listened to the voice mail left on his phone, he'd dropped everything (which for poor Yahiko meant having to wait until his brother got back to get some help with math homework), and ran out the door. When the words 'something interesting' came from the mouth of a medical examiner, one didn't think twice about heading off. This was big. Both men stood on either side of the long metal table that held the body of the young man Sano had taken note of earlier. Aside from the marble pallor of death, there were no puncture wounds, no gash marks that he could see, hell even the semi-clear cloth that covered the body was free of stain. If he had just happened to glance, Sanosuke would have thought that the man may have died in his sleep, which was rather odd if one was to consider the age factor, but not unlikely. However, it was all on the interesting thing discovered by Nakamura that had prompted his arrival. The sheet was pulled back to reveal the pale, naked corpse complete with the standard Y-incision. Gloved hands hovered over the body as Nakamura began talking.

"Now, you notice here, that there are no bruises, no cuts, no puncture wounds, and no abrasions anywhere either. Looks pretty perfect doesn't it?"

Sanosuke nodded. Indeed it was odd. If this was a vampire attack victim, there would have been some sort of wound on the body, be it small or large. Nakamura continued, pointing to the Y-incision.

"The real show is on the inside."

The man sounded as if he was advertising for some sort of show. Sanosuke watched as the M.E. peeled back the folds of the incision. Bright reds, soft pinks, and the creamy orange of the intestines jumped out in a stark contrast to the subtle white of the skin. Sano chuckled as he watched Nakamura peel back another flap of skin.

"I feel like we're opening a pop-up book."

Nakamura answered this with a small laugh.

"Well, sometimes things do pop out; literally."

The medical examiner had the satisfaction of the hunter opposite him turning a different color, somewhere between a gray and a green. The thirty-nine year old married man laughed.

"Trust me Sagara, when you spend every working hour with dead people, it's nice to have a sense of humor handy. My wife says she's caught me talking to the corpses once or twice."

"Your wife works here?"

"Occasionally she'll bring me lunch. Aha! Here we go! Take a gander at this."

A rubber covered finger pointed to the stomach. There, imposed upon the pink, was a bright smear of scarlet, dotted here and there with holes. Ulcers maybe? No, it didn't look like it. Ulcers were fairly small, they didn't encompass a third of the stomach like that. But maybe this was an advanced case? It could have been, in which case the guy would have had to have been extremely poor, or numb to not go into the doctor the minute the symptoms started. Nakamura looked at Sanosuke.

"Now, I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing, but take a closer look. As you can see, the…let's just call them ulcers for now, the ulcers encompass a good third of the stomach wall. Not only that, I checked for blood by scraping his colon. There was no blood in the fecal matter when I checked the microscope. Not only that, red and white counts were normal-"

"How?"

"Hospital records. Apparently this guy was in and out for multiple health problems before he died, but I'll get to all that later. Anyway this is what I found when I cut into the stomach."

With the ease of hands given only to artists and medical practitioners , Nakamura excised the stomach from the body, lifted it up, undid his stitch work, and peeled back a piece of the outer wall. Inside the stomach it was chaos. If this man did die from ulcers, then he must have been in quite a great deal of pain. Nakamura's voice derailed Sanosuke's train of thought.

"As you've no doubt noticed, almost all of the mucus lining of the stomach has been completely worn away, hence the extreme redness, and the Swiss cheese appearance of the organ. However, if this had been a multitude of ulcers, I don't think it would look like this. It appears as if a large portion of the lining was worn away very quickly, and all at once."

"Something the guy ate?"

A smile pulled up the corners of Nakamura's mouth. With the same gentle ease he had used to remove the stomach from the body, he put it back, and went about reworking the stitching.

"Exactly Sagara. I have a couple microscopes placed on the back table behind you. I'd like you to take a look at both of them and after reading the labels, come tell me your assumptions."

Sanosuke did as he was bade, and strode around to peer through the first microscope that he came to. Illuminated by the light from under the glass slide was… Sano glanced away for a brief moment to read the label so precisely placed to the left of the microscope. 'Blood taken from Nagai, Kiito'. Brown eyes flicked back to the tiny drop of blood being scrutinized under light and magnifying lens. At first glance, it looked simply like a slide of blood. Individual red cells making up the tiny drop, sat under the slip cover, staring back at him with unblinking red eyes. Upon closer inspection he noticed that a few of the cells were mutated. At first glance, it looked like sickle cell disease, however once Sanosuke took a closer look, some of the blood cells looked as if the had been ravaged. Holes had appeared on some, making tiny white eyes in the center of the dark circles. Others were riddled through with tiny specks of black that had spread to the membrane.

Good God in heaven, what the hell had happened to this guy? Sanosuke took his eye away from the first microscope and peeked at the slide on the second one. The blood sample was exactly the same as the first. Written on the label next to the microscope were the words "Blood sample found under the nails of a Level E victim".

So this guy was a Level E? No, he couldn't have been. Were that the case, he would have been put on the list and exterminated, not lying in the county morgue. He stepped back and looked at Nakamura.

"Okay, I'm confused."

"Let me explain by backing up a few years in history: When pureblood vampires first began turning humans into their kind, in order to delay the insanity for as long as possible, the vampire would give the infected human some of its blood. If the pureblood was unwilling to do so, then an aristocrat's blood was offered. The effect on the previously human body, as far as blood cells are concerned is identical. However, when it comes to the body itself, there are striking differences between vampire and human bodily functions, such as digestion. Take humans for example: Our diet is widely varied, meats vegetables, and various liquids. In order to dissolve the solids, we have a buildup of hydrochloric acid in our stomachs, and to counteract this, we have a protective lining of mucus. Most liquids, such as alcohol are absorbed into the body directly through the stomach wall. Vampires subsist mainly upon human blood. The digestion of liquids requires no hydrochloric acid, so-"

Sanosuke cut him off.

"So that explains the ulcer like appearance of the stomach. The vampire blood was eating away at the mucus lining as it was passing through the stomach, leaving the acid to erode the organ; because vampires don't have a mucus lining in their stomachs."

"Well done Sagara."

Sanosuke smiled. The two men had moved away from the tables containing body and microscopes, and now stood near the front of the room. A stack of papers was exchanged from Medical Examiner to vampire hunter.

"Here are the hospital records for our new resident over here. You should be able to find everything you need, name, home address, relatives, etc."

The hunter's right hand clasped firmly around the documents, while the left shook Nakamura's hand in a firm grip. Sanosuke smiled at Nakamura. The man was always a pleasure to work with, and always got right down to business. Of course after joking around for a few minutes, but hey, it lightened the mood.

"Thanks Nakamura. I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Likewise Sagara."

With that, Sanosuke turned and walked out of the room, and five minutes later, he stepped into late afternoon sunlight. Shielding his eyes from the sudden stab at his retinas, he checked his watch. 4:15. _Let's see here. I've got my teeth in a juicy new development, and possibly the largest beginning break anyone's been granted with; maybe Kenshin and Yagari would be up for an impromptu meeting down at the local bar. _Kenshin, he knew would be up to it. If there was one thing that Sanosuke knew about the redhead, it was that he didn't mind spur of the moment. Yagari may have been a different story. He shrugged. Ah what the hell, it couldn't hurt to give that chain smoker a quick buzz. Fingers delved into the left pocket, and produced a cell phone. As he flipped it open, Sanosuke had high hopes that both of them would definitely be answering.

* * *

"Dr. Takani. Excuse me, Dr, Takani."

She turned away from what would have been her third cup of coffee that day. Boy, she really needed to cut down on the caffeine intake. It was a wonder she wasn't bouncing off the walls of her office. Her green eyes looked up the see an orderly standing in the doorway, a registration clipboard held in her hands.

"Yes Masai?"

"One of your patients is here to see you. Shall I send him in, or are you on break right now?"

Masai asked, her eyes trailing down to the coffee cup. Poor Dr. Takani. It seemed as each day went by the amount of coffee consumed within one hour kept rising. Within the past week it had steadily gone from a half cup, to one, and now today it had jumped all the way up to three. Masai hoped Dr. Takani would be okay, and that it was merely stress from her workload. Megumi Takani, head physiologist, smiled at the orderly.

"No, I'm alright. Please, send the patient in."

Masai nodded, and stepped out of the doorway. Two minutes later, a mousy haired twenty-nine year old man wearing large rimmed glasses strode quietly into the room. Megumi greeted him with the reserved and kind smile used mainly on her patients.

"Ah Mr. Kawashi. Please, have a seat."

Kawashi silently sat in the chair opposite Megumi. He folded his hands in his lap as he faced the woman who helped keep him healthy to the best of her ability. He hadn't wanted to come in today; the appointment for him had been scheduled for next week, but he hadn't able to wait. The gradually increasing pain of his Chronic Pancreatitis was making it hard to function throughout the day. Sure, he'd completely lain off the alcohol when Megumi had ordered him to, but it turned out he had been moving just two steps behind. Now, numbed by the powerful pain killers prescribed from his last visit, he began to speak to Megumi, filling her in on his current health.

"The pain killers you gave me last week are working marvelously Dr. Takani, and I do thank you for that. However, when they wear off the pain comes back immediately. I'm up to taking two every two hours just to ease it, and you know as well as I do, after all you're the one who told me, that I must follow dosing instructions. Do you now how many times I've contemplated taking four or five? Please Dr. Takani, help me. I can't bear the pain any longer. I've missed two weeks of work. I need a stronger prescription."

"Mr. Kawashi, the pills I prescribed to you were Oxycodone; a powerful painkiller in itself. The next step would be Oxicotton, but that promotes a dangerous addiction, not to mention there's the cost to cover. You told me that you've missed two weeks worth of work. Take one or two Oxicotton, and that will most certainly put you out for an hour or two. Besides, with what you've told me, I think it will be only a matter of time before you're going to have to be moved into the hospital and be administered morphine. The only course of action at this point would probably be surgery-"

"No! No surgery, please I beg of you Dr. Takani!"

No surgery? Was this man insane? Okay, yes he could keep going on pills, but that would severely hurt his pocket book. Besides, if this problem wasn't fixed soon, he would eventually end up dead, or addicted. After all, the hospital couldn't afford, nor would they willingly keep Kawashi on morphine or other high strength medications forever. Then the idea formed in her head. Billowing out like a cloud, radiating dangerous lightning, accompanied with the thunder of Kanryu's voice.

"_You remember our deal, don't you Megumi? You trade your freedom, and in exchange, after a bit of working for me, you get your family back."_

_"My family? My family is dead."_

_"It doesn't have to be so Megumi. There is a man I work for. He…'specializes' in the more macabre fields. Why currently, he's studying a way to effectively impact and improve our world."_

_"By reanimating the dead?"_

_"Think about it: They won't be lost to you forever. In fact, they'll never be lost to you ever again."_

_"You're insane!"_

_"Believe in my words. It's not like you have much of a choice anyway. After all, who do you owe your life to?"_

She hadn't needed to answer, and he knew that. Kanryu held her life in his hands; it was because if him that she was alive. A genetic disease had taken her immediate family, the only family she had. Vainly, she had sought for some way to either cure or at least curb the devastating effects, but to no avail. They had all passed right before her very eyes. Desperate to know the reason why she alone had survived, she delved deep into her family's genes. Apparently, it had been passed down through recessive genes. Lucky her, she'd been skipped over in the recessive department. Sure, really lucky… After having a seat in the front row for what seemed to be a constantly unfolding tragedy, she had sunk into a pit of depression. Every day she had swallowed one anti-depressant after another, simply to try and kill the emotional pain. The fog of medication had caused her to mentally and physically deteriorate; she had been so obsessed with stopping the pain in her heart, she had failed to notice the toll on her body. Until that fateful winter day, when she had collapsed in the park. If it had not been for the strolling vampire, she would have died from exposure as the snow had piled up around her. It was that day, after she had woken up in his warm and comfortable abode, that he had proposed to her his venomous plan. And she, laden with grief and guilt had agreed.

Megumi looked into the frightened eyes of her patient. She could try to convince him to take the surgery, but one glance at his face told her it would be null to even try. Sadly, as part of the Hippocratic Oath, she could not force a patient to do what they didn't wish. Looking first left then right, she leaned forward to speak with Kawashi in a more private manner.

"Alright, now I need you to listen. I can prescribe you a certain type of drug. It's very effective and will get rid of the pain without any added lethargy. If you come by here at exactly eight o' clock, I will have it here ready to be administered to you."

"Don't you mean prescribed?"

"No, no prescription. This drug is rather…underground."

Kawashi's eyes seemed to burst out of their sockets.

"You mean it's illegal?"

"What? Oh no, of course not. It's just that a local lab has created a medicinal enzyme, and rather than make its effects on animals public, they'd rather try it out on a few human subjects before committing it to the market."

The well crafted lie spun off her lips just as elegantly as thread was spun off a loom. In all reality, if one wanted to get technical it wasn't a complete lie. There were instances where people had been asked to participate in a study where the effects of a newly developed medicine was being tested on humans. It was simply the meat of the story that was utter bull. However, Kawashi seemed to be buying it. He sat there, contemplating his odds. The idea of being an overgrown lab rat did not appeal to him in the slightest, but a possibly effective end to the pain he was in right now interested him a great deal. By now, he was willing to swallow nails if that was what it took.

"I'll go through with it. Tomorrow at eight o' clock you said?"

"Yes."

He stood to leave, Megumi stood as well. They met at the door, where patient shook the hand of the doctor.

"Thank you Dr. Takani. I knew you'd help me."

Lead was filling up her heart, weighing it down to the pit of her stomach as she replied accordingly and watched him leave. The weight caused her to shut her door, sinking to the floor as she leaned against it. Sunlight filtered itself through the blinds and cast a striped pattern of light and shadow on the left wall. The rest of the room was enveloped in a slight medium just between light and shadow. Damn Kanryu and most of all damn herself for getting so far into this!

* * *

A small click temporarily broke the thick stillness as the white knight piece was positioned on the chessboard by a long fingered hand. Kaname took his hand away from the piece to examine the layout of the board. On the table behind him was a discarded newspaper. The six o' clock sunlight snuck between the curtains, accenting the article title, written in bold at the top of the periodical.

_**Ominous Silence Cast over the Town: The Dracula Copycat Has Disappeared Along with Any Evidence. **_

It seemed that as suddenly as they began, the murders had stopped. Only four people had died, all of them teenagers. He had followed the murders from the moment he heard his classmates gossiping about it, and had immersed himself deeper when he had seen Battousai the other night. Had the man been at Cross Academy because the Hunter's Society suspected that the culprit may have been a student of the Night Class? It was possible, and something of the sort had happened at Cross Academy before, but he doubted it had anything to do with the vampire of the Night Class this time.

That being said, there was a vampire who happened to be interesting him at the present moment: Kaoru Kamiya. When he had sent Kaoru on a Level E hunt before the murders had begun, she had come back and asked him about Battousai. That had been surprising. Kaname had thought the man dead; to find that he was alive and well, working as a vampire hunter had come as a pleasant surprise. It provided a challenge, one of the best games of cat and mouse he would play yet. Kaname had no doubt the murders had been committed by an upper ranking vampire; he had no doubt there was corruption within the Senate. He desperately wanted to make a move, desperately wanted to intervene in the petty human investigations, but as a pureblood, his movements were surprisingly limited. The chess pieces began to shift on the board as they switched places with each other, moved up or down, and captured the opposing side. At last, when all movement on the board had ceased, the knight sat beside the white pawn. Coming up from behind was a black pawn, ready to take the knight, while in the back sat the king, observing everything.

* * *

Yes, this is how he would play the hunter and the girl, and in the meantime, get the hunter to drop a few of his secrets and he would watch the black pawn ghost silently up to the white pawn.

"So this guy was drinking vampire blood?"

Sanosuke nodded as Kenshin handed the Nakamura's report over to Yagari, who began flipping through it. Kenshin folded his hands on the table in front of him. Once again, the three of them were sitting at the table in the far back, away from most of the bar-goers. At a table close to the entrance, a toast was raised, followed by cheers and an order for another pint.

"I thought the selling of vampire blood was illegal."

"It would be if the existence of vampires was ever made public; and within the ranks of the vampire Senate, profiting from selling the blood of a pureblood to humans is indeed illegal, but it's virtually impossible to touch a pureblood let alone obtain blood from one."

The rustling of papers was added to the noise common to a bar around six thirty as Yagari continued reading Nakamura's writing. According to the information Kiito Nagai was in his late twenties when he died. Estimated time of death was between two and three a.m. last night. The autopsy had revealed, along with the complete deterioration of the mucus lining of the stomach, that Nagai's spleen had been removed. Further down it read that Nagai had had his spleen removed due to inflammation five months before he died. The abnormal thing was the high amount of white blood cells found in Nagai's blood.

"Hey, Sagara. Did Nakamura tell you anything about this?"

Yagari asked, pointing to the papers in his hands. Sanosuke veered his attention to the man sitting across from him.

"Tell me about what?"

"Five months before his death, Kiito Nagai had his spleen removed due to inflammation. Oddly enough, his white count seemed to have been elevated after the surgery."

"What? Let me see that."

Sanosuke took the papers from his friend, and sure enough, near the bottom of the page was what Yagari had been talking about.

_Spleen has been removed from the body, most likely due to some sort of inflammation. Upon reviewing the blood samples, there is an abnormally high white count. The cell count was approximately around 5,000. _

Sanosuke had been told that both red and white counts had been normal; he'd even looked at the blood through a microscope. Then again, it could be possible that Nakamura had simply forgotten to inform him. Not surprising when the two of them had been busy discussing the similarity of Nagai's blood to that of a Level E rather than the disappearance of the spleen. The elevated white count was peculiar though. True the body's ability to fight off various infections was lowered slightly, but it wasn't like the man had died of some serious viral infection. Yagari scanned down and noticed another glaring sign: Kiito Nagai had an autoimmune disorder.

"Maybe the vampire blood mixed with his own and the body recognized the vampire blood as a foreign object?"

Kenshin had a point. But didn't the ingesting of a vampire's blood benefit a human body rather than harm it? There had been a couple undocumented cases in the past where a human had ingested the blood of a pureblood or aristocrat, and had been cured of an ailment, or had lived well on into an unbelievably old age.

"Well yeah, but isn't vampire blood sort of like a magic elixir for any human who drinks it?"

Sanosuke's thoughts were echoed by Yagari. The three of them sat and mulled over their evidence. Vampire blood had the lovely consistency to act like water, and mix with the blood of another organism. Yagari took a cigarette out, and bit down on the filter.

"Let's try looking at it his way: Vampires have superb immune systems, they never get sick. They are immune to nearly every disease contracted by man. So let's hypothesize that vampires have an abnormally high white count. That being the case, it would make sense that their blood when administered to humans is able to cure whatever the human is afflicted with. This may also explain the high white count found within Kiito Nagai, as the vampire blood may have been mixing with his own."

Kenshin looked slightly confused.

"Yes, but wouldn't his immune system recognize the blood as a foreign invader?"

"True, but instead of direct injections, Nagai received the dosage orally. Caffeine and alcohol are absorbed into the body through the stomach wall. Let's say for right now that vampire blood does too."

Sanosuke took a moment to interject.

"I'm pretty sure it does. Not only does that report talk of the mucus lining in the stomach being destroyed by the blood passing through, the stomach looked as if a whole sea of ulcers had washed up in there."

Yagari shot Sanosuke a mildly peeved look.

"You had your moment when you gave us the report. Now kindly let me have mine."

A chuckle was the only response. Rolling his eyes, Yagari went back to speaking.

"Like caffeine and alcohol, the vampire blood is sent directly into the stream of Kiito's human blood, blending with his own."

"The effect is bound to wear off though."

Damn! Kenshin had put a chink in Yagari's finely sculpted hypothesis. It was true, if Yagari was correct then the effect of the blood would run out; and if that was the case…

"You think he had multiple doses of this stuff Kenshin?"

Kenshin nodded. It made sense if one happened to, of course look at the stomach, or take in mind the fact of Nagai's autoimmune disorder

"Of course, if we go with what Yagari's saying, which is probably true based on the evidence Nakamura found, we can assume he consumed the blood more than once. That would attribute to the appearance of the stomach."

"What about the white count? We can't assume that all the white blood cells in the blood were transferred perfectly every time. Could it be possible that the acid in the stomach may have eaten away at the blood somewhat?"

Kenshin shrugged.

"It's possible, but we're only going on assumptions here. We may have to wait for some harder evidence to be found."

More assumptions than evidence, more questions than answers. Just great!

"What's the story for the public?"

"No idea yet. The police around here keep a tight lid on anything vampire related. At least five of the detectives on the police force are vampire hunters as well. We don't have to worry about any information being leaked."

"Besides,"

Yagari added.

"They'll provide some kind of cover story. The police or the press, either one, they always do."

In the meantime, the only thing they could do was wait.

* * *

Smoky yellow lights situated in the cement ceiling above her cast a hazy glow within the parking garage. The pavement below her feet seemed to radiate the cold temperature of the night to come. Megumi shivered, and pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. It looked like she'd be turning on the heater when she got into her car. The surrounding area was void of sound as the night tried to invade the cement cage of light. Up ahead, she saw her car, and leaning against the driver's side door was Takeda Kanryu.

What did he want? Why now? Why here? She bit back an annoyed snarl, and approached car and vampire.

"What is it Kanryu?"

While she avoided the snarl, she couldn't mask the venom in her voice. Kanryu smirked.

"My dear Megumi what ever is the matter. You seem displeased about something. I hope it is not my presence you find offensive."

'Displeased'? 'Find his presence offensive'? That was putting it mildly!

"If it pleases you I need five vials of vampire blood by eight o' clock tomorrow. You have another human guinea pig to add to your collection."

Low laughter met her ears. Kanryu's shoulders bounced up and down as the laughter shook his frame. Megumi glowered at him. Jackass! He probably knew that she needed the vials, that was why he'd come here. Leave it to that aristocrat bastard to be probing her mind when she was unaware.

"Megumi, Megumi, Megumi. Do you realize that I am not the only one with soiled hands here? You are the one who makes the decision to provide them with the medicinal agent that will eventually kill them. You are the one they come to looking for succor*, not I. Their deaths are weighed upon your shoulders, not mine."

"Liar! If it wasn't me, you would be using someone else to complete your petty plan!"

"Ah yes, but _you _were the one who happened to be in my path that day. Fate turned a blind eye on you that day Megumi, and now you must guide its hands, for it can no longer see you because you just keep falling deeper and deeper into the shadows."

A metaphorical knife sliced her heart, piercing her to the soul. She stood there in silence, not able to form neither words, nor thoughts in the blind face of the truth. Fangs reflected the dim light around the as Kanryu smiled.

"I will have what you need by eight o' clock tomorrow. Good night Megumi."

Then she was alone in the semi-dark; alone with nothing but her bitter conscious.

* * *

**Finally! I am finally done! Sorry about the lack of action, this chapter was mainly building plot. On a side note, succor means help or aid.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Holy crap it's been a while. I really need to get this thing finished! Sorry for the really long wait. No, seriously, I am.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Vampire Knight or Rurouni Kenshin**

* * *

Blue fabric swished as Kaoru grabbed the dress from the closet rack. She turned around, holding it up to her frame.

"What about this?"

Misao sat opposite her friend on her bed, staring at the other side of the room with glazed eyes. Really now, it was just a Senate ball, why the heck was Kaoru so obsessed with what she wore? Senate balls were boring affairs where vampires milled around, drank that crappy blood tablet stuff from wine glasses, gossiped, and ogled over the purebloods. Who cared what one looked like as long as they were presentable?

Misao shrugged in response. She was beginning to tire of this. For the past half hour, Kaoru had been scrounging around, pushing clothing back and forth on the rack until that infernal sound of hangers scraping against metal was all Misao was able to hear. Kaoru let out a grunt and glared at Misao.

"Oh come on! At least try to be enthusiastic!"

"Why?" Misao asked. "Kaoru, it's just a Senate ball, and you've never cared before. Why now?"

Kaoru placed the blue dress back in the closet and began rummaging for a different one. This time, she pulled out a black dress with lace sleeves and semi-reasonable neckline. She turned and examined the dress against herself in the mirror before replying

"Because, at every Senate ball, vampire hunters show up in case things get out of hand. You know, a security thing. This may be my last chance to see Kenshin; and I mean to wow him."

Ah, so that's what it was! But would he really care what she looked like if he was indeed put on duty tonight? Surely just seeing her would make him happy. If he was even there. Misao derailed her train of thought and looked up just as Kaoru was pulling another dress from the closet. Geez, how many did she own? Then again, there were dozens of formal balls and whatnots they needed to attend, so it only made sense, but so far she'd mostly worn the same clothing again and again at every senate ball.

After examining herself in the mirror yet again, Kaoru sighed, put it back, and continued scrounging around the closet for something to wear. At long last, she pulled out a royal blue halter. A simple article that stopped above the knee. Simple yes, but Kaoru could make a trash bag look good on her. Misao observed Kaoru for a moment, watching her stare and stare at the mirror as if it contained the secret she had been searching for, for the past half hour. The vampire ninja sighed. If Kenshin wasn't there tonight, Kaoru would at least be taking home multiple compliments on her appearance.

"Kaoru?"

She turned from the mirror, dress in hand, eyes glinting with the faintest hint of curiosity.

"Yes?"

"That one."

* * *

Cold, sour air greeted them as Sanosuke opened the door. Cracked stone steps led off in a gently spiraling path down into the catacombs beneath the ancient building. Torches lit their way as Kenshin and Sanosuke descended down the dank steps. The sound of their footfalls echoed down the corridor, bouncing off the stone like an invisible ping-pong ball.

"Anything yet?" Kenshin asked. Sanosuke shook his head.

"No. The little jerk refuses to talk. Hopefully, that's gonna change today."

The two of them continued down in silence. A few feet in front of them sat a large steel door, held fast by three shiny, large padlocks. Kenshin fished around in his pocket and produced a ring of keys, flicking two aside and settling on the third. He stuck the key into each, listening for the click of the lock mechanism giving way. Once all the locks were off and off to the side, he and Sano gripped the large dual handle, and pulled the door open. Although the locks were new, the hinges were not, and shrieked sharply in protest when forced to perform their job. On the other side was a long hallway accented on left and right with various, mostly empty cells. Only two held occupants. The occupant of the cell closest to the door was a mere semblance of life. It laid on the floor, eyes sunk into its skull, skin stretched taut over the bones, mewling pitifully. As Kenshin and Sanosuke passed, it made an attempt to pull against its chains, but could not even so much as raise a finger, so little was the strength left in it. It would only be a day or so before the vampire was dead.

In a much further cell, a lot less pitiful looking, but still ragged was the common vampire captured just a few days ago. Baleful brown eyes glared up at the hunters from the thing seated cross-legged on the floor. The anti-vampire cuffs around his wrists had left marks from where he had fought against his chains for a solid hour. After tiring himself out, he had sat on the floor, complacent, but not entirely subdued. They stared at each other for a few minutes, men and the beast inside the cage. Sanosuke broke the silence.

"Nothing to say today either, huh kid?"

The common vampire turned his head away. Sanosuke narrowed his eyes, but kept his tone light and cheery.

"You sure? There's nothing you want to say to us? Nothing at all? You've been at this for a few days now. Surely you've got something to tell me. You couldn't have forgotten."

Enraged, the boy leapt forward, yanked back by his chains. Plan A having failed, he switched to lashing out long claws at the bars, snarling in absolute rage. Sanosuke chuckled.

"That's not gonna scare me off, sorry. I've faced monsters with way more bite than you, even behind those bars. Now, are you going to cough something up or-"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

Sanosuke sighed. "Aw, really? That's too bad, because my friend over here brought you a snack."

He gestured to Kenshin, who pulled out a plastic bag with a small piece of tube sticking out of it. The bag was filled with a red substance. Immediately, the boy stopped slashing at the bars, and stared, transfixed at the blood bag held in Kenshin's hand. A drop of saliva hit the ground as he began to drool.

"That's right, that's real human blood you're looking at. Since it's a bit hard to procure that blood tablet stuff around town, the Hunter's Society has a deal with the local hospital. We keep a few of these around, so that when the occasion arises and we get a vampire in that's higher up on the ranks, we can train it before it gets out of hand."

Sanosuke knelt before the cage, wearing a sadistic grin on his face.

"So, are you going to be a good little dog?"

The common vampire continued to stare at the blood bag, dripping yet more drool on the floor. Then, what\Sanosuke had said began to dawn on him, and he shook his head violently from side to side.

"Hell no you human bastard! I'm not going to become your lackey!"

This time, it was Kenshin's turn to speak.

"That's a shame. We'd hoped you would tell us something. Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be. Too bad for you," Kenshin began tearing the bag open, slowly tipping its contents onto the ground, "this is our last bag."

Small red drops began falling to the ground. As Kenshin poured more of the blood onto the ground, the drops thickened into a red line. The vampire watched all of this, fangs long and eyes red with hunger. When he could no longer stand the fire gnawing away at his throat, he howled, throwing himself to the ground, desperately trying to reach the other side and failing miserably.

"Alright, I'll talk, I promise. Just please give me that blood! I'm begging you; I can't stand this much longer!"

Kenshin looked at Sanosuke, ignoring the sad creature scrabbling around on the floor. The other hunter nodded, and Kenshin tossed the blood bag in between the bars where it landed on the other side of the cell with a wet plop. The vampire dove for it, tearing through the plastic, noisily slurping down the liquid inside. The two men watched the vampire devour its meal. When the bag and cell floor had been licked clean, he turned back to his wardens. Blood spattered his lips and chin, staining his skin a dark, rich red. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, then began.

"I don't know all that much, however, those murders weren't at random. The victims were being targeted not only because of their academic and social background, but because of their family background as well. And not just the fact that the victims were the descendants of well known people who were famous inventors, doctors, whatever. Sure they had the power to change things, but that's only part of the picture. The bloodlines of these four families trace back to four ancient vampire hunters. The four murder victims are near reincarnations of these hunters."

"What hunters?" Kenshin asked.

"Four humans who were exceptionally gifted when it came to the slaying of vampires. They were known as Mikushi, Hiran, Ume, and Rikuyo. Siblings, these four and their immediate descendants were what led to the fall of many pureblood vampires. Along with being destined for political high-seats, they were destined to come together-"

"So…what? Was Jine afraid they'd start eradicating all of vampire kind?"

"No, but they would be able to introduce the existence of vampires in such a way that separate governments for each species would become obsolete. The Senate would crumble, and with it, its underground network. A true utopia would come into being."

Sanosuke nodded, "And Kurogasa couldn't let that happen."

The boy's head jerked up. Written on his face was a befuddled expression.

"Kurogasa is a marionette."

Kenshin and Sanosuke shared looks of shock and confusion. Kurogasa was a mere puppet? To whom? Kenshin turned back to the vampire sitting in the cell.

"Do you know who he was working for?"

The boy shook his head. "Nope sorry. What I've told you is everything I know. That's all the information I've been allowed to be privy to.'

Kenshin nodded, "I see."

Sanosuke sighed. Great, just when it seemed they'd be getting answers, they were plunged into yet another labyrinth. He regarded the encaged creature sitting before him. What now? Should they kill the vampire? Or should they just let it die on its own like the poor wretch a few yards down? True they'd been given what they'd asked for, but he and Kenshin had been the ones to make payment first. He looked at Kenshin,.

"Well, what now?"

"We leave."

He was right. There was nothing else to do but head out of these depressing, sour smelling corridors, and back above ground, and figure out what to do next. The vampire leapt up from his sitting position, gripping the bars with such force, his knuckles turned white.

"You can't leave me down here! I gave you what you wanted, let me go!"

He rattled the bars, straining against his bonds until the anti-vampire metal began to cut into his wrists. Sanosuke gave the vampire a pitying look.

"If you'll remember, we had to pay you first to get what we wanted. We're even, we're through. Besides," Sanosuke began to walk away, followed by Kenshin, "your kind never play a fair deal anyway."

The vampire roared in rage, pulling again and again on the bars that kept him contained.

"You bastards! Pathetic wastes of flesh! Your kind are nothing but cattle to us, hear me! Do you hear me you whimpering little curs! Do you hear me, you incompetent-"

The vampire's shriek of rage was cut short when Kenshin and Sanosuke slammed the door back into place. Once the door was locked, the two made their way above ground. When they were about halfway up, Kenshin looked at\Sanosuke.

"What do you think?"

"Think of what?"

"Of the information we were given."

Sanosuke shrugged. "Well, it definitely explains why those kids were murdered, and I can see why Kurogasa would get nervous about descendants of four famous vampire hunters landing themselves in political power chairs…" He trailed off when he noticed his companion shaking his head. Sanosuke blinked, "What? Something I miss?"

"I was referring to what he said about Kurogasa being a marionette."

"Oh yeah, that. That is a bit peculiar now that you mention it."

In all reality, it wasn't that peculiar. At the end of their battle, Jine had said that there was one final thing to be done, and then had taken his own life. Had that action been preordained? Another thing were the letters that had been delivered to each of them. Yagari had informed Kenshin of their little setup when the three of them had made their way back to the Hunter's Society that night. Yagari told Kenshin that the purpose of the letters was distraction and disposal, but for who exactly? Sanosuke wouldn't have been bested by his opponents and neither would have Yagari. Kaoru and Misao had also taken an easy victory. Had the disposal purpose been meant for him? True, Jine had been the only adversary to be concerned about, but was there more beneath the surface when it came to the case of the letters? Only time would tell. And what of Jine anyway? Who was he working for/ To what end had he been working? Was there anything to have been gained for Jine having lost his life? Once again, they were running around with more questions than answers.

* * *

"C'mon Misao, let's not be late!" Kaoru called back to the entrance of Cross Academy. In front of the school, large black cars lurked like hungry sharks. On the steps, Misao hesitated. Adorning the young vampire was a red Chinese style dress circled by a golden dragon. Misao looked left, right, then down at herself.

"Are you sure this isn't too flashy?"

"Of course, now let's go!"

Kaoru waved her hand impatiently. Misao always did this. In all reality, no one really looked at the two of them any longer than a few seconds for a hello and a possible handshake. Hell, Kaoru was willing to bet someone could show up naked and no one would take notice, so intent were they on the purebloods.

After a few more minutes of indecision, Misao made up her mind, and went to meet Kaoru in front of the car…only to be nearly mowed down by Aido. He flew past Misao, nearly blazing a trail of fire. Dual ocular ice chips glittered as he waved to Kaoru, aura all allow with joy. Why was this idiot so happy? Kaoru didn't have long to wonder for she was soon squeezed so hard, breathing, much less thinking, was impossible.

"Kaoru-chan! You look ravishing in that dress! Oh I'm so happy I get to see you looking so prett-urf!"

Aido was cut off as Akatsuki yanked him back by the collar, giving Kaoru the ability to breath again. She took a few deep breaths to get her out of control heartbeat back in order, then focused her attention on the so called 'catch-of-the-day' dangling from Akatsuki's outstretched hand. Akatsuki bowed slightly.

"I apologize for his idiocy ."

Kaoru smiled, "It's okay, although I do feel for you, as you have to do this quite often."

"I've gotten used to it." Akatsuki said with a shrug. He turned around, still carrying the struggling Aido, and popped him into an adjacent car, shutting the door behind his ever-defiant cousin.

Misao, who now stood before Kaoru, looked on in confusion.

"What was that about?"

"Who knows; now, let's crawl in so we can get going."

Her friend nodded, and in they went.

Around twenty minutes later, the car slowed to a stop in front of a foreboding looking building. A click sounded from the left side of the car as the driver opened Kaoru's door. She stepped out, taking a moment to stare at the place where this affair was being conducted. Was Kenshin inside? And if so, where? A quick tap in her shoulder startled Kaoru out of her wondering.

"Shall we?" Misao asked. Kaoru nodded.

Behind them were the sound of the others getting out and making their way towards to silent structure. It was hard to believe an important affair was being held within its walls. It was so quiet, the place could have passed for abandoned. Maybe that was why the Senate chose it, but then again it didn't make sense. With as much sway as the vampire government held in the human world, why on Earth did they choose to hide in a seemingly abandoned building?

Inside, the foyer was lavishly decorated. Tables with white satin cloths, a rich red carpet, ribbons adorning the upper balcony. Perfect for a meeting of both the human and vampire world's most powerful people. Vampires milled about, drinking and gossiping. Kaoru scanned the crowd. No, no, no, maybe…no, not him. She couldn't see Kenshin anywhere. Had she been wrong? Then again, as she did a more thorough scan through the building, she couldn't see a single sign of any vampire hunter, which was odd. Those guys stuck out like sore thumbs, leaning up against the walls, staring out at the crowd, looking like they didn't want to be there.

_Join the club, _Kaoru thought as she came to the realization that that near hour of hunting through her closet for something perfect had come to naught. She sighed. Ah well, best just to find Misao or try to mingle with the crowd Yeah, mingling sounded like s good idea. However, just as she was about to head off, motion from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head to the left, she found the source of the motion, and almost had her heart quit on her.

Opposite the room, still waving, was Kenshin. He was still wearing his trademark black coat, but underneath he wore a blue v-neck and black dress slacks. Plain on any other man, Kenshin looked amazing. Kaoru glanced around, then trotted over to him. They exchanged smiles and brief hellos, then took each other in. Kenshin whistled.

"Miss Kaoru…you look stunning."

And indeed she did. In one word, Kaoru was radiant. Kenshin couldn't remember the last time he'd seen someone look so good. Her cheeks burned bright from her furious blushing. She smiled, and managed to come back with something for him.

"The-Thank you. Um.. You look great yourself Kenshin."

He smiled, and placed a hand behind his head.

"Thank you. Yagari thought I was overdressed."

Overdressed/ How could Kenshin have done that? Of course this was nothing new coming from the guy who always seemed to be wearing the same thing every time he was over at Cross Academy. The two of them made small talk for a few minutes, but in the middle of a conversation regarding her school activities, Kaoru noticed something off: Kenshin was following the thread of their conversation well enough, but every few minutes, he would watch the people pass by in the background. It got on her nerves so much that she clamped her mouth shut and stared at him. Quick to notice something amiss, Kenshin stopped his survey on the other side of the room to turn his attention to her.

"Something wrong Miss Kaoru?"

"Oh not really, " Kaoru said, letting the tiniest hint of annoyance seep into her voice, "just that you keep staring at the other side of the room while I'm talking to you. Is there something more interesting over there?"

Her foot began to tap as she awaited a response. Honestly, if he was just going to continue watching people, why did he even wave her over in the first place? Was he clueless?

"Well, you see Miss Kaoru, the reason I'm here is-"

"There you are Kenshin! Geez, if you're gonna walk off, let me know first…hey Missy you look good. Where's Weasel Girl?"

Once again, Sanosuke took it upon himself to enter at a crucial moment.

Kenshin sighed. Did Sanosuke have some chip imbedded in his head that let him know whenever he was about to tell Kaoru something? The man's timing was so impeccable in this case it was frightening. Sanosuke shook Kaoru's hand, and while they exchanged a bit of chatter, Kenshin took advantage of the opportunity and continued scanning the area. He had been told by Yagari that along with Sanosuke, the three of them would keep an eye on anyone who entered, mark them for suspicious activity, and take in constant stock of who was present. Yagari came in handy for that as he knew most of the vampires at the ball. So far, after the influx of arrivals from Cross Academy, very few people had come in. Many of them had fanned out to the center of the room and were doing the same thing: drinking and talking. The few groups clustered in the back was engaged in simple conversation that could be heard from where Kenshin stood if he zeroed in on the conversation. Nothing worth reporting yet.

"…always does that, don't you Kenshin?"

"Do what now?" Kenshin asked, looking first from Sanosuke to Kaoru, and back again. Sanosuke chuckled.

"Space out, you always do that to us." Sanosuke said, patting Kenshin on the head. The spiky haired hunter snickered and pointed at Kaoru.

"Busy thinking 'bout Missy over here?"

"You dolt!" Kaoru hissed, resisting the urge to slap him. Kenshin rolled his eyes.

"No, just sticking to the job."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow.

"Job?"

A look passed between the two hunters. They remained silent, exchanging glances, until Kenshin sighed and Sanosuke looked away, asking himself why he and Kenshin kept opening their mouths. Kenshin swept his gaze left and right, then leaned in closer to Kaoru.

"The real reason we're here is to investigate an odd death that took placed a day or so ago."

"Odd death? Don't the police normally investigate that?"

Sanosuke shook his head.

"Not when it comes to the substance that was used to kill our victim. Tell me Missy, are you aware of something called blood trafficking?"

Blood trafficking? The illegal sale of a pureblood's blood to humans? Every vampire was aware that such a thing had once existed. The market spread like the plague, covering nearly every continent, until abodes called 'Red Houses' were springing up along every seedy location. It was then the Senate had passed a law decreeing that anyone, human or vampire caught profiting from the sale of vampire blood would be executed and had the pureblood been willing in such a transaction, the entire clan would be defaced and exiled to the most remote place on Earth.

Kaoru nodded.

"To make a long story short," Sanosuke continued, "a young man showed up in the morgue with some pretty peculiar things running around in his system. What the medical examiner was seeing were symptoms in line with those who had purchased vampire blood back when the selling of such a thing was legal."

"So we're actually here trying to find our culprit." Kenshin said.

Well that made sense as to why Kenshin had been scanning the background while he and Kaoru had been talking, but how did they expect to find their suspect here? A Senate ball was an event in which hundreds, perhaps even thousands of vampires attended. Whittling down just one suspect would be impossible. Kaoru opened her mouth to ask more, but Kenshin cut her off.

"I'm going to see if I can't find Yagari," he said, turning to Sanosuke, "if you would Sano, please try getting close to the small crowds in the back and eavesdropping on the conversation."

He turned back to Kaoru.

"Miss Kaoru, I hope you don't mind, but we may require your assistance as well as you can get a lot closer to those attending than we can. And you can help us rule out suspects as we get further along. Of course, you can refuse-"

"Why would I do that? I enjoy working with you guys."

"Miss Kaoru, I don't think you realize just what kind of position you're putting yourself in-"

"Don't worry Kenshin, I'll be fine. If you're worried about anyone suspecting me for treason, you're just stressing yourself out. No one ever suspects me of anything.. Now, I'm off to get you your information. Later guys!" There was a flash of blue, then she dissolved into the crowd, becoming just another guest. Was Kaoru serious? Did she really think she could continue doing this and nobody catch wind of her activities? Sure, Kenshin was grateful that she was willing to help, but turning in one of your own marked you for treason. How could she not be worried? Beside him, Sanosuke shook his head.

"She's a fool."

"I know Sano, but right now she's a helpful fool, and we aren't in any position right now to turn her away. We need all the information we can get.'

They continued to watch the place where Kaoru had disappeared before splitting up. Sanosuke headed straight for the back and Kenshin veered off to the right, walking down an adjacent hallway, marking anyone he saw. There weren't many people back this way, and Kenshin was able to walk most of the narrow hall undisturbed. Once he had to attempt a ninja maneuver and 'become one with the wall' in order to get past a young vampire couple too busy devouring each other's faces to notice the hunter trying to inch his way past. Kenshin turned the corner and was thankfully met with no one. This far away from the ball guests, the silence was deafening. It pounded on his eardrums with intangible fists. Each footfall swallowed by the carpet, Kenshin made his way down to the fifth door on the left. He paused before entering, leaning his ear to the door. The only discernable sound was the shuffling of papers. Good, he was in the right place. He tapped twice on the door. There was a brief silence and then a very slow turning of the doorknob. A flash of metal from the visible line of candlelit darkness behind the door told Kenshin that Yagari had his self-defense pistol out in case a surprise visitor was dropping by. Before Kenshin could open his mouth, he found himself involved in a staring contest with the barrel of the gun. On the opposite end of the pistol, Yagari blinked in surprise and lowered his weapon.; Kenshin did not so much as flinch. Shrugging off what could accurately be described as an awkward moment, Yagari chuckled.

"Sorry about that Kenshin. Better safe than sorry you know."

Kenshin smiled. "Yes, I should have told you it was me before tapping on the door. My apologies."

Yagari stood aside while Kenshin made his way in, shutting the door when the both of them were safely in the small room. The candle on the center of the table beamed in a twitching luminescence, sending shadows skittering up the walls. Papers were spread out across the oaken surface, each one lined with names and other possibly useful tidbits of information. Yagari began collecting the papers and forming them into a semi-neat pile.

"I haven't found anything of use to us yet, these first papers are just lists of names of people who have attended this event in the past. A great deal of these vampires I can point out were I to be in the ball room right now. The rest\are merely records of balls held in the past, number of attendees family names of the purebloods who attended, important matters to be discussed by the Senate members, etcetera, etcetera. Nothing but mindless scrawl really. The only helpful thing right now are the lists of names. Unfortunately, what we need are actual\Senate records, and those are kept under lock and key by the Senate members deep in the heart of the dark politician's castle. Guarded by faithful dogs who have no other function that to rip off the heads of intruders who get too close for comfort."

"That's certainly a way of putting it."

"Sorry. Just venting about this damned dead-end. I thought we'd find something here, but apparently I was wrong. I mean, I could go scan the crowd, but I'm willing to bet I'd find everyone on this list and then some."

"Don't be too hard on yourself Touga," Kenshin said, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, "you've narrowed our culprit down.'

"Yeah, from a million possible suspects to a thousand." Was the contemptuous reply.

True, they hadn't been able to narrow down their suspect list much, but it had helped somewhat. Still, it felt like they had managed only five steps on a thousand mile journey. Sure they'd shrunk their haystack, but that needle was still in there somewhere. Yagari sighed and placed the papers back don on the table.

"I'm going to monitor the ballroom. You can stay here and try to find if I missed anything."

With that, the older man sauntered out of the room, looking quite miffed with himself. Kenshin couldn't blame him though; the body that turned up in Nakamura's morgue was probably one of many yet to come, and if they didn't find any leads soon, that pile of hay would soon become a pile of bodies that needed sifting through.

Kenshin rifled through the papers simply to stall for time. He had no doubt that Yagari had thoroughly gone over each and every one of the sheets. The man was far too good to do anything half-assed. After that quick and pointless double checking, Kenshin crept out of the room and shut the door quietly behind him. There was no change to the corridor, it was still as empty as ever. Upon rounding the corner, Kenshin as relieved to see the face-devouring couple had left. More than likely to find a room much further down the hall.

A chorus of constant chatter breezed into his ears as he approached the ballroom. He passed Sanosuke upon entering and nodded at his companion. So far, so good. Nothing seemed out of place. Yeah, like that was what they were looking for. Perhaps Yagari was right and they had hit a dead end. The three of them seemed to have quite a track record of doing just that. He was about to head for the back and see what he could find there when Sanosuke tapped him on the shoulder.

"I talked to the guy managing the door, and he says that he hasn't seen anyone leave."

"I don't think anyone would, and even if they did are you sure they would use the front door?"

"I hate it when you do that." Sanosuke replied with a smile. Kenshin smiled back. Then the smile on Sanosuke's face evaporated as he saw the gears in Kenshin's head spinning.

"What? You got a plan?"

"Of course. When we got here, I went around and set some thin wires across the only back door this place has. If someone's left, we'll know."

Grinning , Sanosuke clapped his friend on the back.

"Way to go Kenshin! You're something else my man!"

Kenshin chuckled. "I'm going to go check that back door. You stay here, and report anything odd to Yagari."

"Already got that covered.' Sanosuke said, feet carrying him away into the mass of vampires. With Yagari and Sanosuke covering the ball room, Kenshin turned on his heel, and made his way once again, down the various corridors to check up on the door.

What he didn't count on were a pair of eyes watching him intently. The watcher looked left, then right. When he was sure that no one was approaching him or watching him in turn, he stalked after the vampire hunter, Kenshin turned many corners, taking long strides, oblivious to the fact he was being tailed. The watcher hung back a few yards, matching Kenshin step for step. Kenshin picked up his left foot; so did the watcher. Kenshin gently laid his heel down on the carpet; so did the watcher.

Both hunter and prey came to a stop when the door loomed before Kenshin. Silent, and stationary, the door faced the hunter. He got to work, kneeling down in front of the door, and running his fingers down the spot where the door came to rest in the frame. About halfway down, he touched a wire. It ran across the entire length of the door, in the exact spot where Kenshin had placed it. So no one had left by way of the back door either. That meant their potential suspect was still inside. The next best thing to do now would be to go back, meet up with Sanosuke and Yagari and-

A small click, just above barely audible. Kenshin whirled around, hand diving to the hilt of his sword. No one. The corridor was as empty as a discarded chip bag. Hunter senses still in high gear, Kenshin stepped forward, looking all around. As far as he could see, nothing had been disturbed, but if that was true, then where had that click come from? All the doors around him appeared to be closed and locked, but as Kenshin had learned many times in the past, appearances meant nothing. He tried each of the doors , finding every one of them locked. Maybe that place had settled? It was a rather old building. No, he would have heard a pop, not the clicking of a door shutting. Kenshin shook his head. He was probably working himself too hard and had imagined the click Removing his hand from the hilt of his sword, he made his way out of the carpeted labyrinth, and back into the ball room.

Meanwhile, standing behind the door of one of the rooms whose door Kenshin had inspected, the watcher sighed in relief. Sure he had locked the door when he had stepped into the darkened chamber, but the sight of the doorknob jiggling had still been enough to send his blood pressure skyrocketing. He put a hand over his chest to steady his still pounding heart. Locking the door had probably been a stupid idea, those damn things made noise every time someone slid the bolt back into place, but he was still able to remain undetected so it wasn't all bad. Still, he would have been more comfortable if it had been a forest Kenshin had been walking in. Well, a least one thing was clear. Those three were here for more than just security detail.

"Anything yet? Anything at all?" Kenshin asked, hoping beyond all hope that someone suspect material had turned up.

No such luck. Yagari shook his head in response. Kenshin sighed and sagged against the wall. He was beginning to think that Yagari was right. Beginning to think? Hell, he already did think Yagari was right.

"Hello there. This is new."

Kenshin's head snapped up. He looked all around the ball room, trying find what Yagari had spotted. His eyes failed to land a victory and he turned to Yagari who was staring at a vampire in the center of the room. Other than the fact that he was surrounded by women, nothing seemed unusual.

"What? What's new?"

Yagari pointed. "That woman beside him. Black hair, green dress."

Kenshin looked. Unlike all the vampire women who were busy fawning over the man in the center, this one stood beside him, reserved, and looking like she wanted to be elsewhere. Odd, but then again half of those here shared that expression.

"What's up with her?"

"She's human.'

"What?"

"You mean you can't tell?" Yagari asked, dumbfounded.

"You can?"

"Humans stick out like sore thumbs here. Plus her skin tone is the same as ours, not the pasty white that you see on all the other occupants." Yagari said.

Puzzled, Kenshin turned his attention back to the human woman standing beside the vampire. Now that he got a good look at her, her skin glowed a healthy pink; and when she smiled Kenshin saw that her canines were flat, not pointed. Why was there a human here? There shouldn't have been any other humans except for Kenshin, Sanosuke and Yagari. Something didn't quite fit. Kenshin turned back to Yagari.

"Any ideas what she's doing here?"

"No, I didn't even know a vampire could bring along a human."

"Maybe she's his wife?"

Yagari shook his head, "Impossible. Look at the way she's letting those women fawn over him. If she is his wife, she's pretty liberal about his faithfulness. Besides, that look on her face tells me she's not her of her own free will."

The two hunters fell silent and watched the mysterious human woman. She didn't talk much, when she did, it was in few words. She also stuck close to the man. Strange, considering the fact that she kept looking around as if she wanted desperately to escape. Why was she here? Was she his mistress? No, why would any self-respecting vampire bring a mistress, much less a human one? If that was the case, then a place like this would be packed with women, human and otherwise. There were too many questions. The only way to settle the confusion was to get into a confrontation. However, with the way she clung to the vampire like a tick to a dog, there was no way Kenshin or Yagari were going to be able to even take a step in her direction.

Or were they? Just as the thought of their inability to get close to the woman crossed his mind, the vampire turned to the human, said something to her, then proceeded to walk off, a rather overdone vampire latched on his left arm. She nodded, then walked towards the back of the room. Kenshin saw his chance. He looked at Yagari, who nodded, and off he went.

He found her leaning against the wall, looking tired and bored. Smiling, he walked over to her.

"Hello there madam. May I interest you in a drink?"

She smiled at him, waving her hand.

"No thank you. My apologies, but my biology isn't designed to handle that kind of drink, if you know what I mean."

"I do. Shame they don't have wine, you could at least have something to sooth your parched throat." He said, leaning beside her. She chuckled.

"You're quite the flatterer. May I ask why you're hitting on a non-vampire lady?"

"Don't trouble yourself, I'm not a vampire either."

She sprung off the wall, standing fully erect.

"What?"

Kenshin smiled, and stuck out his hand.

"Kenshin Himura, vampire hunter. Now that we have that out of the way, care to tell me who you are, and why a human like yourself, who has no connection to either the Vampire Senate, or the Hunter's Society is doing at a function like this?"

Black locks tumbled down, hiding her face a she turned her head away from him. From in between the curtain of ebony, he could see two smoldering emerald eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about. What's a vampire hunter doing here anyway? Aren't hunter barred from entering this sort of event?

"Actually, we're asked to be here for security, in case things get out of hand."

The woman didn't grace him with a comeback. Instead, she was glancing around, looking for an opening between the masses of people. Kenshin spoke up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You bolt, and you're bound to make a scene. As the only other human here besides the vampire hunters, you'd definitely be remembered. And if I were to wager a guess, you wouldn't want that happening would you?"

Infuriated, she whirled on him. Her green dress swung around her legs. Her hand made a smack as it landed on the wall next to his head. Kenshin was not intimidated.

"Like I'd tell you anything! And are you really a vampire hunter? If so, what business do you have asking me all these questions, if you're here just to provide security?"

"Because I'm genuinely curious as to what a human woman is doing at an all vampire event."

"Why don't you go ask Kanryu then?"

"The vampire you were with? You know, for being so clingy with him, you certainly didn't look to be any romantic relation. Besides, Mister Kanryu seems to be rather occupied right now, wouldn't you agree…?" He paused in an effort to get her name. She fell for it.

"Megumi," she huffed, "now if you'll excuse me, I'll be moving on."

Her abrupt leave was stalled when Kenshin grabbed her arm.

"Come now Miss Megumi, don't you think we should take advantage of this opportunity and chat for a while? I'm sure you can agree that this is better than just standing around, staring off into space."

"I can think of other things that would be much more preferable to spending another minute with you."

"Like selling a man by the name of Nagai Kiito vampire blood?"

Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. Every muscle on her face seemed to go slack, her mouth hung the smallest bit. A tiny whisper crawled from between the part of her lips.

"How…"

Before Kenshin could reply, the lights went out.

What followed next was pandemonium.

* * *

**Sorry for the cliffhanger folks. Lucky for you though, I will get the next chapter out without as long of a wait this time. I do apologize for that. How long was it? Four months? Five? Gomen. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey people. Welcome to the long awaited chapter 13.**

* * *

"How?" She asked, eyes glazed over with terror.

Before Kenshin could reply the lights went out.

What happened next was pandemonium.

At first everyone stood there, waiting for their eyes to adjust and slice through the darkness. After a few minutes, an aura of nervousness began to trickle into the crowd. Near him, Kenshin could sense a vampire fidgeting, trying desperately to see in the gloom. When it became obvious no one could see, the trickle grew to a flow and the nervousness became all-out panic.

"I can't see!" Someone wailed.

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Individual thought gone, the vampires surged as one towards the doors. The sound of flesh slamming against a yielding surface made Kenshin flinch, inadvertently causing him to loosen his grip.

Megumi took evasive action. She tore herself from Kenshin's hand and dove into the crowd of panic-stricken vampires. Kenshin cursed and took off after her, despite his inability to see. Several vampires slammed into him in their mad and futile rush to get out. Someone tripped and went sprawling headlong into Kenshin, knocking him to the floor. When he came to his senses, Kenshin stood up, surveying the room. No good. All he could see was an endless expanse of black. Strange, he should have at least been able to see the shifting forms so frantically moving about.

What was happening?

Meanwhile, Yagari was having similar problems. He'd been knocked into and knocked over more times than he cared to count. He found what he deemed as a safe spot, and leaned up against the wall, taking a moment to collect himself. After a few minutes, he brought out his lighter and flicked the tiny flame into life. A click, but nothing else. Squinting through the shadows, Yagari tried to zero in on the flame. Nothing. He inched his thumb further up the lighter . Reassuring warmth caressed his skin, informing him that there was indeed fire. He extinguished the flame and put away the lighter. To not be able to see a flame, a light source, and on top that was of the vampires' lack of ability to see… something was wrong. This was no average blackout. Could that woman be behind this?

His train of thought was not on the tracks for long, because a shrill shriek cut through his mental process.

"The doors! They won't open!"

And boy, did _that _help the situation. A chorus of panic swelled to a spiraling climax as more people shouted and screamed in fear. Above the din, Yagari could hear Kaname trying to calm everyone down. Unfortunately, it did no good as the mass of vampires dispersed to other areas of the ball room, groping and scrambling for anything resembling an exit. Once again, Yagari was knocked over by a terrified vampire bumping into him. Yagari swore and tried to fight against the rush of bodies.

He needed to find Sanosuke and Kenshin fast.

* * *

There was no way he was getting out of this alive. Sure many vampires had left the conglomerate that had taken up so much entry way space, but not all of them had left. Poor Sanosuke was squeezed between flesh and wood, barely able to breathe because of the crushing weight. He sighed. Not the best way for a vampire hunter to leave this world: Crushed against a door by frightened vampires.

Then, a miracle! Just to his left, he sensed movement, a vampire darted away from him. Hallelujah, an opening! He didn't think; he dove for it. Limbs flailing, body rolling again and again, and face slamming down into the floor had not been the landing he'd had in mind, but at least he was free. Standing up, he brushed dust from his clothes, and attempted to survey his surroundings. Shadows to his left, to his right, in front and behind. Sanosuke ground his teeth, how the hell was he supposed to maneuver in all this mess? All around him vampires ran blindly, scrambling for an opening, anything they could use to get out. He put a hand to his face. This action took him some time because his hand had to find his face first. Thoughts swirled inside his head. What was causing this? Why couldn't the vampires see? How could this sudden blackout be stopped? The answers eluded him.

A thin, tiny wail pierced the terrified cries that had swelled to fill the room's capacity. Sanosuke stopped, ears locked onto the source of that particular sound. A child? He cocked his head in what he believed to be the direction from where the sound originated. From what he could tell, the child didn't sound that far away, a few hundred feet to his left at the most. As best he could, he navigated through the dark until he judged he was right in front of the child. Kneeling down, he laid his hand on the child's shoulder. As to be expected, the child jumped back in fright, and its scream jumped up a few pitches, grating on Sanosuke's ears. Sanosuke however, did not let go.

"Kid, relax! I'm not gong to hurt you!" He shouted. Even this close to the child, he found himself surrounded by a screeching choir. Thankfully, the child stopped screaming and struggling to get away. Which was odd, considering this kid could do a lot more damage to Sanosuke than he could to the child. Fear must have sapped his strength reserves, the hunter reasoned. Sanosuke leaned in closer, trying to get right by the child's ear so he could be heard better.

"Listen, your mother, do you know where she could be right now?"

More sobbing, followed by a violent shaking of the head.

"No mister, I don't know!"

"Okay, okay, you're going to be fine. Come with me. We'll try to find your mom."

Upon hearing the last six words that left Sanosuke's mouth, the child leapt forward, nearly crushing Sanosuke's ribs in a massive hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you mister!"

Call him a softie, but Sanosuke had a sensitive spot for kids, whether they be human or otherwise. Well, as long as the otherwise remained cute and innocent. When they went all evil and bloodthirsty, things tended to get ugly.

Tiny hands clung around his neck like a cat up way too high will cling to a tree branch. The child buried his face in Sanosuke's neck, causing the hunter to stiffen. He wasn't going after blood was he? But when the skin of his neck began to dampen with tears shed in half-relief and half-fear, Sanosuke's apprehensions were assuaged. This poor kid was just scared; nothing to worry about. Sanosuke took a deep breath and placed a tentative foot forward, blindly navigating the moving maze of bodies around him. He had no idea where to start, but he supposed he might as well start simply by walking.

* * *

Kenshin gave up, there was absolutely no way he was going to find Megumi. Not in the dark, and definitely not in this chaotic mess. It had been a full minute since the unexplained blackout, and so far, not a single person had calmed down. Nope, not a one. He barely felt it when another person bumped into his shoulder. Amazing how quickly one became accustomed to things. Behind him he heard a groan followed by a thump as someone fainted. Wonderful, now there would be a trampled and unconscious body to add to the current list of grievances. Kenshin sighed. What on Earth was causing this blackout? Megumi couldn't have been the culprit, he was certain. She had been with him up until then, and the fact was obvious that she was a mere human, nothing more, nothing less. Then what about the vampire she had been with? Hadn't he left a moment prior to his and Megumi's meeting? If he turned out to be behind the sudden blackout, then it helped to reaffirm his and Yagari's (mostly his) initial belief that she and Kanryu were together.

_Okay, _he thought to himself, _let's assume for now that is indeed the case. Why the blackout then? And didn't Kanryu take a vampire woman back with him? Is this blackout a distraction while he gets the blood from the vampire he took with him? _Plausible, but that vampire wasn't a pureblood. Kenshin ground his teeth. The blackout had been designed to create confusion, and, of course, it was working. But why had Kanryu taken a non-pureblood vampire back with him? And what of Megumi? Had she come to act as a spectator? Or was there more to it?

Before he could speculate further, someone slammed into him from behind him, sending Kenshin right into the floor. Stars exploded behind his eyes in bright hues of blue and red. He rubbed his head and the person who had fallen into him groaned.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm really sorry, are you okay?"

That voice!

"Miss Kaoru? Is that you?"

"Kenshin? Kenshin! Oh thank God! Do you have any idea what's happening? I can't see for the life of me."

He shook his head. "I'm in the same boat as you Miss Kaoru, I have no idea at all of what's going on. Have you found Miss Miaso? Or Sano or Touga?"

"You mean Yagari? No, after people started getting freaky, I haven't been able to find anyone. Well, except you of course." Came to reply, which sounded somewhere off to his left. Kenshin stretched out his hand in what he hoped was the right direction.

"Grab my hand Miss Kaoru, let's try to find a safe and semi-quiet place to talk this over until the lights come back on." _Sure, _he thought, _**if **__they come back on._

Soft, long, delicate fingers wrapped around his palm. Just the sensation of her hand in his made his heart do giddy leaps in his chest. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. Keeping a tight grip on the other, the two of them rose to their feet and, led by Kenshin, made their way to what they hoped was the direction to the closest wall. Once at their destination, they sagged against it, and began to converse.

"Miss Kaoru, did you see or hear anything strange just before the lights went out?"

"No, I didn't."

There went one witness. Great… He opened his mouth the question her further, when a hand laid itself on him shoulder, turning his intake of breath into a yelp. Familiar chuckling ghosted under the noise around him.

"Hey now, calm down Kenshin. It's not like there's a need to panic or anything." Yagari said, not bothering to take his hand off Kenshin's shoulder.

"Um Touga?"

"Hm?"

"Your hand."

"Well, I don't want to lose you now do I? Do you know what kind of hell it is trying to walk a mere _ten steps _without being mowed over?"

Oh indeed he did. Of course, so did everyone present. The three of them stood in the dark, taking stock of what was going on around them, until Yagari spoke up.

"So Kenshin, any ideas on how to get the lights back on, or how to get the vampires to be able to see again?"

"No. I think it's safe to say this blackout is not ordinary."

"I think it's safe to agree with you."

"How do we find Sanosuke, or Misao?" asked Kaoru, tightening her grip on Kenshin's hand.

"Simple," Yagari said, "we wait for them to come to us. If that doesn't work, wait for the lights to come back on."

"Are you sure they will?" Kenshin questioned, turning his head to what he hoped would be a direction facing Yagari. Although neither of them could see in the dark, Yagari smiled.

"Of course. Places like this normally have a generator for back up in case something like this happens."

"It sure is taking a while." Kaoru pointed out.

"Yes, which could mean one of two things," Yagari replied, holding up a shadow-shrouded finger, "one, the generator's a little creaky on account of that this is the first time it's ever been needed for something like this, or two, someone's gone so far as to cut off the generator's power."

Wasn't that just grand? Luck held them in favor however, for no sooner had the words of electrical sabotage left Yagari's mouth, did the lights come back on. The sudden reunion with the world of sight was met by yelps and cries of pain as humans and vampires alike shielded their eyes from the sudden influx of brightness. After a moment, eyelids creaked open and spots were dispelled from visionary fields. Kenshin, Kaoru, and Yagari blinked at each other for a minute. Yagari let his hand drop from Kenshin's shoulder, and Kenshin and Kaoru, after a sheepish smile had been shared, let go of each other's hands. The panic that had enveloped the room before evaporated, and some individuals sank to their knees, weak after being so riled up. Others whooped and cheered in joy, a couple people even victory danced a little bit. Yagari began looking about the room.

"Where's Sagara?"

"Right here Yagari, no need to worry."

They turned to see the aforementioned hunter striding to meet them, holding a vampire child in his arms. Yagari and Kenshin chuckled while Kaoru, confused, raised an eyebrow. Sanosuke waved them off.

"Yeah, yeah snicker all you like, this poor kid would have gotten trampled if not for me."

"Sure thing Sagara. Nice cover. Better than saying you're a real soft shell when it comes to kids huh?" Yagari chortled, elbowing Sanosuke in the ribs. The former rolled his eyes.

"So," He said turning to Kenshin, "did I miss anything good?"

"No, the three of us, as you can see, were able to reunite in the dark."

"And Misao is still AWOL." Yagari interjected.

"Well, let's go dig that weasel out of her burrow shall we?"

Kaoru shot Sanosuke a disapproving look, but was ignored. An alarmed shout cut through the reigning silence.

"Keisuke! Keisuke, where are you?"

Upon hearing his name, the child in Sanosuke's arms began wriggling and calling out simultaneously.

"Momma! Momma!"

A vampire woman burst through a small crowd of vampires in front of them. Her sandy blonde bun had come a bit undone, and tiny wisps of hair framed her face, making her wide-as-dinner plate eyes appear even larger. When she spotted her son, safe and sound in Sanosuke's arms, relief washed over her features, gracing her lips with a grateful smile. She strode up to Sanosuke and relieved the poor man's arms of the overly excited child. He wrapped his arms around his mother's neck, burying his face in her chest. The woman smiled down at her son, then looked up at the vampire hunter, gratitude shining in her evergreen eyes.

"Thank you." She said in a quiet voice.

Sanosuke smiled, "Think nothing of it."

The woman smiled, then trotted off to join the rest of her kin, son nestled comfortably in her arms.

Behind him, Sanosuke could hear Yagari snickering to himself. The younger hunter rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

"Aw, I thought it was sweet." Kaoru said.

"So did I." Kenshin added. Sanosuke sighed.

"Yay, so not only am I Yagari's laughingstock, I'm your personal softie?"

Kenshin chuckled, "You know that's not true."

The four would have continued further, if not for a sudden shout, filled with concern and fear, that caught everyone's attention:

"Sara-sama!"

This was followed by a rushing of vampires to the center of the room, packing themselves into an invisible, circular sardine can to observe what could be wrong with their dear pure-blood. More shouting.

"She's unconscious!"

"How could this have happened?"

"Damn it, where are the hunters? Why aren't they doing their job?"

"Really? Because I could ask the same of you Ishidou." Yagari said, shouldering his way in between the mass of vampires huddled around the collapsed Sara Shirabuki. Kenshin, Sanosuke, and finally Kaoru trailed not far behind. Ishidou, the vampire in question glared at Yagari.

"And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"

"Hirue Ihsidou. You are the official bodyguard of Miss Shirabuki. It is your duty to keep her from harm, but as you can see, harm has befallen her. Now how could that have happened? Oh, I know! During the blackout, you panicked, fled from your mistress's side, and scrambled for the nearest exit."

Yagari threw one of his famous smirks, ice blue eye glinting with triumph.

"Do I have that about right Ishidou?"

Ishidou's ears reddened, and a rushed reply escaped his lips.

"I was trying to locate her."

"Hm? Are sure, because your reaction is telling me the opposite."

Ishidou went to confront Yagari, but was blocked by a very serious-looking Kenshin.

"My apologies for getting in the middle of this, however, your comments are not our prime concern," he said, glancing at Yagari, "and furthermore what happens to the pureblood vampires at an event like this really isn't of our concern."

Gasps and growls emanated from the area around them.

"The impudence!" Someone hissed.

"How dare he!" Whispered another.

"Damn arrogant hunters." Murmured a third.

Kenshin ignored them and knelt down to inspect the fallen idol. Aside from the obvious fact that she had fainted, nothing seemed amiss. Her marble pallor had not lightened a shade, and her lips were still full and red, even underneath the thin coating of lipstick. He rolled her head to one side and inspected her neck. Force of habit yes, but he wanted nothing overlooked. No puncture wounds. The veins in her neck had been left alone. Kenshin brought a finger to his chin. When someone went after blood, didn't they first go for the neck? He shook his head. If Megumi was behind this, she wouldn't be that stupid. Poking into the neck tended to be a messy job, and someone here would have no doubt noticed the smell of blood.

"Hey Kenshin, get a look at this."

Kenshin turned his head to where to Sanosuke knelt beside him. He held Sara's right arm in anatomical position, and if Kenshin squinted just right, he could see five small puncture wounds located just above the elbow joint. Needle marks.

"I see. Well then, we have one more bit of evidence to point us in the right direction."

Whispers from the other vampires circulated through the air. Evidence? Evidence of what? What was going on? Moreover, what would happen to Sara-sama?

Sanosuke shot Kenshin a look, then rose to his feet, pulling Kenshin with him.

"If someone will see to the lady here, I think my _friend," _here Sanosuke tightened his grip on Kenshin's arm a little bit, "and I are done here."

He let go of Kenshin, and the of them parted the crowd of vampires. Yagari turned back to Ishidou, bowed in a mocking fashion, then followed the other hunters. Kaoru hung back, unsure of what to do.

"Uh hey," she called out, "what about me?"

"See if you can find Misao." Yagari called back.

Kaoru sighed. If being the key word here. Her eyes scanned the murmuring crowd of vampires around her. How was she supposed to find anybody? Two of Sara's attendants flanked her left and right, and placed her in a sitting position. The pureblood groaned; a signal that she was starting to come around. Her head rolled as she tried to fight the heavy fog of unconsciousness. Ishidou bent down and began speaking to her in a low voice. Ivory eyelids fluttered like sheets of parchment in the wind, cracking open to reveal light-caramel colored eyes. Kaoru sighed again. Good, Sara-sama was awake now, well, semi-awake. A collective sigh of relief washed through those surrounding her.

Now that Sara was alright, Kaoru began her hunt for Misao.

Meanwhile, in the very back corner of the room, Kenshin ducked in order to avoid an angry fist to the head, courtesy of Sanosuke.

"What the heck was that for?"

"That makes twice you've blabbed Kenshin! Do I have to padlock your mouth shut?"

"Now Sagara," Yagari said, flicking out a cigarette, "it's not like we're conducting a top-secret investigation or anything."

Sanosuke sighed. Yagari had a point

"Besides," he added, "we might be able to use this to our advantage."

Eyes of brown and violet fixed on the older hunter, glinting with curiosity. Kenshin was the first to speak.

"How?"

"Simple. They're obviously upset by this, and Kenshin's slip of the tongue didn't help things. The way I figure it is this: they're going to be running around like chickens with their heads cut off for a period of time before this upset can be settled. During this duration of panic, we might be able to slip Kaoru and Misao in and see if they can expose anything that's been missed over covered up within the last few decades or so."

"Decades?" Sanosuke asked, quirking an eyebrow. "You figure there's a connection between the blood trafficking of then and what's going on now? Or…" he leaned in and lowered his voice to a near whisper, "are you thinking down a whole different path?"

For a moment, nothing was said. Both Kenshin and Sanosuke stared at Yagari, waiting for his response. The vampire hunter in question kept his face stoic, regarding each of them in turn. He took a drag on his cigarette, then spoke.

"Don't you two think the recent string of events has been rather odd? I mean, first we've got these kids, who've been said to be descendants of the very first vampire hunting family being murdered. Then there's that letter business, where we were all lured out in the dead of night. Seemed quite elaborate didn't it? If Jine had wanted to pick us off, he could have done so, but the only one he wanted to fight was Kenshin. Kaoru and Misao confirmed this with a 'servant testimony' so to speak."

"There's also the fact that after everything had been said and done, Jine committed suicide." Kenshin cut in.

Sanosuke nodded, "I thought that was odd too. He'd successfully murdered those kids, even if Kenshin had beaten him, he could have just slunk away. He didn't have to kill himself."

"Maybe he didn't like to lose." Kenshin said

"That could be."

"Yagari blew a puff of smoke in between the two of them to bring them back on track. "At any rate, we all agree that it was odd. Then there's the issue of blood trafficking popping up again. Almost _right after _the night that Jine killed himself. To me it seems just too coincidental. Kids get murdered. We get lured out into town to deal with these stupid little distractions. Jine kills himself. A man by the name of Nagai Kiito is dies by the ingesting of vampire blood. One right after the other. Bing, bing, bing."

"You suspect there's something more to it?" Kenshin asked.

"Here's my theory, and it's just a theory mind you, but I think someone, or a group of people, might be behind this whole thing. That what happened then, and what's happening now is just a prequel for something a whole lot worse."

"Yagari, we've got four dead teenagers, and blood trafficking incident that could spiral out of control of left unchecked. How could things get worse?" Sanosuke demanded, waving a hand for emphasis. Yagari shrugged,

"Just a feeling."

"But a strong one.' Kenshin interjected.

Another bout of silence stretched taut between the three of them. Behind the trio, the crowd of vampires had broken up, and Sara Shirabuki was standing shakily to her feet. Everyone talked about the blackout. Kenshin strained his ears to listen. When he caught most of the conversation threads, he perked up his ears.

"Now this is odd."

Yagari blinked, shaking forlorn thoughts out of his head.

"What is?"

"They're talking about the blackout, but no a single one of them has mentioned Kanryu or Megumi."

"Who?" asked Sanosuke.

"An aristocrat vampire and a human woman who Kenshin and I suspect are involved in the blood trafficking."

"Miss Megumi is definitely involved in it. She gave herself away."

Yagari chuckled. "You're kidding."

"I wish I was. Of course this job can be easier than expected at times." Kenshin replied with a shrug of his own. Yagari glanced over at Kenshin.

"Do you really think it's that odd that no one's talking about them? I think that blackout was more of a concern than an aristocrat and his human tag-along."

"True, but look, there's a couple of the woman who were fawning over him." Kenshin pointed over to one of the refreshment tables. Standing just to the right were two vampire women, one with black hair down to the middle of her back and the other with short brown hair. They chatted in a high-pitched, hushed tone, but their words were easy to distinguish if the three of them focused in. Sure enough, the blackout was the main topic of conversation, and nothing else.

"And another thing that strikes me as odd, is that they're not even concerned for their friend, who walked off with Kanryu just a few moments prior to the blackout. If I were them, I'd be trying to find her, not gossiping by a refreshment table."

Yagari nodded. "Speaking of which, where is he anyway. I didn't see him when the lights came back on, and he's no where in the ballroom right now. Neither is that woman."

A sheepish look passed over Kenshin's face at Yagari's mention of Megumi.

"Sorry, I loosened my grip on her when someone slammed into me, and she took off running. I couldn't catch her. I'm very sorry."

Yagari waved him off, "It's alright, it can't be helped. Not that interrogating her here and now would have done us much good anyway."

"Do you want me to try and find her?"

"Don't bother. Underneath this building lies a sprawling network of underground passages that extend throughout the entire city. They were put in place almost the very moment this town sprung up. At first they were used as safe havens and attack avenues for humans. Eventually, some of the tunnels were blocked off after years of no use. Some of the tunnels have collapsed completely over they years. The only reason the ones under this building have remained standing so long is that's they're still maintained in case there ever needs to be an emergency evacuation, and none of the doors can be used as options." Ash-colored smoke sailed out into the clean air. Yagari leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest, "Unless you know your way around those tunnels, or unless you've got a guide, I wouldn't go down there if I were you. You could spend hours, days, even weeks wondering those tunnels and never see the light of day. Let her escape for now; we may have enough time on our hands to wait for her to resurface."

The three hunters stood in silence, watching the broken party slowly re-assemble itself as friends got back into their groups and business partners began traveling back to their more comfortable routes of conversation.

On the opposite side of the room, Kaoru found Misao. Elated the older girl wrapped her friend on a joyous hug. However, when she asked Misao the same question Kenshin had asked her, Misao's eyes went blank for a moment, her face froze up; then her eyes cleared and she told Kaoru she had not. When Kaoru tried prompting Misao, she found her friend could not remember a thing.

* * *

Tiny droplets of water slid down the cold stone walls surrounding her. The darkness was absolute, it pressed in on her from all sides, stifling her, stealing each and every breath as it came out of her lungs. Frightened, Megumi pressed on in the dark, determined to find Kanryu. He was not far ahead, of that she was certain. From behind her, a piece of wall, a remnant of one of the many arms of empty space that had stretched from this spot, tumbled down and onto the floor, echoing throughout the cold chamber. Startled, Megumi gasped, only to have a cold hand clamp down over her mouth.

Fear shot through her body like one million volts of electricity. A muted scream beat against her closed lips. Another arm slinked forth from the shadows and snaked around her waist. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she struggled in vain to free herself from her captor. When she was young, her friends had told her stories of the tunnels beneath the city, and the horrifying monsters that dwelled within them. When she became older, she knew her friends had been stuffing her head full of verbal cotton, but now, here in the dark, and all alone, it was all she could do not to cry monster.

"Knock it off, it's me!"

Upon recognizing the voice, Megumi stopped struggling. The hand fell from her mouth, and the arm let go of her waist. Weakened by the sudden fright, Megumi's knees buckled, and she toppled to the ground. She only received a few seconds' rest before she was yanked to her feet, Kanryu chuckling.

"Honestly, you're such a fool Megumi. You should know that there's nothing down here." he chuckled some more at this. "Ah, human women and the fright fantasies. What fascinating creatures you are."

Her eyes flashed hatred him. Arrogant, filthy bastard! How dare he frighten her in such a manner!

After Kanryu got over his giggle-fit, he turned back to Megumi, all business.

"I trust it went well? You obtained the blood?"

"Yes."

"Good," he said, flashing a lupine grin, "how many needle's worth, hm?

"Five."

"Ah Megumi, my sweet little Megumi. You're getting better everyday."

Megumi clenched her fists. "I thought you were supposed to be the one supplying the blood. My _only_ job is to administer it to my patients!"

"Yes, yes, I understand, I just wanted to see our competition with my own eyes."

"Competition?"

A pale finger waved in the dark. Those fangs never slid themselves back behind those lips.

"No, no Megumi. You're not privy to every detail I'm afraid. Now, let's find our way back to the surface shall we? I just had this suit pressed, and I don't want to get it damp."

And with that, he turned and walked off. Not wanting to be left behind, she followed him, sparing only one glance over her shoulder. Should she have told him about how they were already being investigated by a group of vampire hunters? Should she have informed him that she slipped up and now they knew? No, id wouldn't do any good. Kanryu probably knew, and if she knew him as well a she thought she did, he was going to turn this into a game and enjoy it until the very end. Even at her expense. After all, what was she if not a pawn?

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter seemed short than normal. More mystery to come! And sorry it took me so long to update.**


	14. Important Notice

**Forbidden here, I have come today to relay a sorrowful message:**

**I'm discontinuing this fic.**

**I've been away from it for far too long. The plot lines have run out and my writing for it has gone stale. I'm very sorry for the upset I have caused.**

**Sincerest apologies,**

**-ForbiddenDreams13**


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